Mixed Signals
by Hikari-and-Yami
Summary: The YIB, or Yami's in Black, is the secret organization home to the world's deadliest assassins. But when the leader sends his top four assassins out to target a young boy and his friends, will they be able to accomplish their mission? YYY SJ BR MM
1. Assignment

Yuri: Yeah, so I'm going on a rampage for some reason with new stories so enjoy!

Yami: Yup, and Yugi and I are back to help her out!

Yugi: Yay! Hi everyone!

Yuri: Shall we start? Enjoy readers!

…Assignment…

Dark brown eyes pierced the night sky. The gentle melody of the crisp autumn breeze blew through metallic silver tresses of hair. The long, black trench coat that was worn by this mysterious stranger also blew softly in the wind.

The silence of the atmosphere was memorizing, serene, and terrifying…

Only a few steps away stood another figure. This one with dirty blonde hair pointed out in every direction and dark purple eyes filled with malice. He wore similar attire to the silver-haired man in front of him and currently stood straight with his hands in his pockets and his eyes towards the ground. He and his companion were currently waiting for their cue which, in the brown-eyed youth's opinion, wouldn't be long from now.

Turned out he was right.

At that moment, the front door of the house that the two men were standing in front of opened slightly, signaling their assistance. Without further delay, the two shadowy figures made a swift but soundless dash to the door and, before entering, leaned the backs against both sides of the doorframe and peeked cautiously inside. After a moment, they both walked in quietly and shut the door. They were confronted with a shorter man, dressed in black, with determined crimson eyes and a wild mane of black that was outlined in red with gold lightening bolts shooting upwards.

The smallest of the three, who had evidently been the one who had opened the door for the other two, moved his hands in several positions, signaling their next course of action in sign language. After a few gestures from the other two, the three men made an effortless glide towards a large, locked white door. There, the brown-eyed boy placed something in the keyhole on the doorknob and, within a few seconds, the door swung open to reveal two men dressed in dark blue uniforms sleeping heavily on two chairs, which were in front of another door.

The blonde and silver-haired men both made their way behind the two sleeping figures and, after clasping their hands over the mouths of the defenseless men, plunged long daggers into the two bodies, which now lay limp in their arms. After harshly throwing the bodies to the floor, the crimson-eyed boy ran up to the door that was supposedly being guarded, and kicked it in. It wasn't a moment later that the short man heard a clicking sound and he didn't even have to look up to know that there was a gun being pointed at his head.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the crimson-eyed boy said threateningly but nevertheless with a smirk gracing his rosy lips.

The man pointing the gun laughed. "You are not in the position to be making threats," he said pushing the smaller boy's head back with the point of the gun. He never kept his eyes off of the other two who had killed his guards.

"Look at me Yami!" the man said angrily. "I want to see your face when I kill the 'best' assassin of the YIB."

The one called Yami only smiled more. "By the time you pull that trigger…you'll be dead."

The man glared and tightened his hold on the revolver he had in his hand. "I'm finally going to have my revenge! Goodbye Yami! And good riddance!"

Yami held a finger up and said with the charming calmness that he always held in his voice said: "Wait, before you do…umm as you say 'have your revenge'…you might want to see if Kaiba is okay with that."

The man's eyes went wide when he heard a sharp blast echo off the corners of the room. He slowly looked down at his chest and saw a dark red liquid seep out of a newly formed hole. He looked back up at Yami one more time before falling to his knees revealing a tall brunet standing behind him with a black gun. Yami then took the weapon out of the man's hand with ease and pointed at the head of the dying target, making sure that the man's hollow green eyes were staring into his own crimson ones.

With a smile, Yami said sadistically: "Game over."

Another shot rang through the room as the man fell flat on his face and the blood from the hole in his head flowed out onto the hardwood floor. Yami threw the gun on the floor carelessly and, after putting on dark sunglasses, walked away with his companions, who had also put on dark shades, following close behind. After walking out the house and down the pavement, Yami jumped into the passenger sheet of a black Mercedes Bens and waited patiently for everyone else to get in.

"That is the last time that I'm saving your ass," the blue-eyed boy named Kaiba said as he sat in the driver's seat and turned the car on.

Yami rolled his eyes. "That's what you said last time…and besides I could have handled that myself."

Kaiba sighed angrily. "Well, I'm not taking the chance that you get your brains blown out and then Pegasus comes and bitches at me for not watching out for you."

The albino in the back seat reached towards the front seat only to get his hand slapped away. "What the hell was that for?" the brown-eyed boy said angrily.

"What did I tell you about touching the radio or anything else in this car Bakura?" Kaiba said as he continued to take several right and left turns.

"Whatever," Bakura puffed out as he leaned back into the cushioned seats and then began to complain to Marik, the blonde sitting in the back with him, how the idiot had gotten blood on his shoes.

While Kaiba was reprimanding Bakura, Yami took this opportunity to look at the laptop that was attached to the area where the radio usually was.

"So this is the new DXL that Pegasus gave to you?" Yami asked admiring the new piece of equipment.

"Sure is," Kaiba said proudly.

"Interesting," Yami replied and before he knew it, Kaiba drove into a dark garage and turned off the car.

They all stepped out and after taking a brief glance around the small space, Yami pushed a small tile in the wall inwards, which began a detailed process of individual verification including a hair piece for DNA, a pupil analysis that measured the length and width of an individual's pupil, and at last a password that was to be typed into a small panel that appeared from the wall. Fingerprints were unnecessary since once you became a member of the YIB, they were burned off.

After this possess was over, the walls in the room shifted and suddenly Yami, Kaiba, Bakura, and Marik were standing on top of a moving black flat surface that brought them through a door that had just opened up in the wall.

A bright blue light began to scan each one of the men and then a mechanical voice could be heard.

_"Yami Motou a.k.a. Number 1. Specialty: Sniper attacks._

_Seto Kaiba a.k.a. Number 2. Specialty: Strategist and Computer Expert._

_Bakura Sanifica a.k.a. Number 3. Specialty: Daggers and Ninja Stars._

_Marik Istar a.k.a. Number 4. Specialty: Physical Strength."_

_"Welcome…to YIB,"_ the mechanical voice finally said as two doors opened wide to reveal a platform that overlooked a room the size of a hotel that was lined with dozens of desk and hundreds of individuals dressed in black walking in all types of directions.

The YIB, or Yami's In Black, was a league of assassins who killed whoever their leader ordered them to kill. All members wore black leather with black trench coats and shades. This way, they remained ominous and unnoticed. As a reward for their efforts, members would get a large sum of money for every mission they accomplished. The more accomplishments, the higher your rank. When you joined the league, your identity was disposed of including social security, birth certificates, and things as such. The only thing you were allowed to keep was your name.

Yami and his companions stepped out onto the platform as it began to lower onto the ground floor. Once there, the four boys were greeted with an excited voice.

"Fellas! I assume you have good news for me," a tall white-haired man said approaching the leather clad individuals.

Yami nodded. "Target 3251 has been eliminated," the boy said nonchalantly.

"Wonderful!" the man said. "I knew I could count on you four. But I do need a brief synopsis of what occurred for my files so if you please…"

Kaiba was the one who responded since the brunet was always brief. "We approached the target's house. I disenabled the alarm system as Yami snuck in through the roof and unlocked the door for Marik and Bakura who disposed of the two guards. Then the target was taken out."

"Thank you Kaiba," the man said after the brunet was done.

"Pegasus, do you have our next assignment?" Yami asked always ready to take someone down.

Pegasus, or the leader a.k.a. Number 0, smiled brightly. "Always so eager, aren't we Yami? Yes I do have your next assignment but this one will require time and effort out of all four of you. It's the most detailed and intricate assignment that I've ever given anyone. Are you sure you four are ready?"

Marik laughed. "Of course we are! Give it to us already."

Pegasus' smile widened. "As you say," the silver-haired man said as he handed Yami yellow folder.

Yami opened it quickly but was shocked at the four pictures he saw. Pegasus noticed this and said happily: "Enjoy!"

The leader then walked away as Yami held up a picture of a boy who looked to be no more then ten. "Target 3252…Yugi," Yami whispered to himself.

…TBC…

Yuri: Hope you guys like it! Please Review!


	2. Going Undercover

Yuri: Hey guys! I hope you guys are liking the new story! See you at the bottom!

…Going Undercover…

"Pegasus! What is the meaning of this!?" Yami said as he threw open the door to the leader's room and stormed up to his desk.

Pegasus looked up from the important document he was reading and smiled. "Yami, I thought you wanted a more challenging mission."

Yami glared and threw the folder containing the details of his mission on Pegasus' desk.

"This mission is ridiculous though! You want us to sneak into a high school and play the roles of average students!? That's insulting!" Yami said crossing his arms.

"No my boy, it's dangerous!" Pegasus said standing to his feet while leaning forward on his desk with his hands. "I'm trusting you and the others to go undercover to retrieve highly guarded information! I can only trust my top agents with this mission."

Yami raised and eyebrow as he said slowly: "Highly guarded information? What sort of information?"

Pegasus flipped on the folder that Yami had thrown so violently on his desk and pointed his finger at the picture of the boy who looked so much like his number one assassin.

"This boy," Pegasus said, "contains knowledge about the whereabouts of seven pure golden objects."

Yami's eyes went wide. "Pure gold?"

A grin graced Pegasus' features. "Yes Yami. They're ancient items from Egypt. They would be worth millions today. Are you beginning to catch my drift?"

"Slightly," Yami admitted and then looked at the three other pictures. "But what about these other boys?"

"Well, evidently, these are Yugi Moto's best friends. All of which have received one of these items from him as a gift but you don't have to worry about them. All that I require of you is to get the information that I want from Yugi and then…dispose of him. The others will split the remaining targets among themselves," Pegasus said with a smile.

"I don't understand why we don't just 'extract' the information from these boys in a way that is more are own," Yami said.

Pegasus shook his head. "It's too risky. If they don't talk then we'll never find those items."

Yami laughed. "The way Bakura and Marik do torture, trust me they will talk."

"Well I'm not taking the chance that one of them clams up. I want all of the items and the only safe way to do it is for you all to befriend them and have them give up the information willingly."

Yami smiled. "I assume that you will make all the necessary arrangements."

­

"Already did," Pegasus said. "You all begin senior year at Domino High School tomorrow. Have fun!" Pegasus said as he gentle shoved Yami outside the door.

"So," Marik said as he saw Yami approaching Kaiba, Bakura, and himself. "What happened? Where are we going?"

Yami smirked as he said: "We're going…to school."

…

"Katsuya!" the English teacher yelled at the top of her lungs, nearly knocking the sleeping blonde teen off his chair.

The boy named Katsuya instantly say upright and flashed the teacher a sheepish grin. "Yes Mrs. Hizasa?"

The teacher glared and said: "See me after class."

Katsuya nodded and then smiled at the exasperated look that his best friend was giving him from the desk beside him.

When the bell rang, a small boy with huge amethyst eyes stood outside the classroom door. A sigh escaped his rosy lips as he patiently waited for his trouble-seeking friend. After about five minutes, the door opened.

"Why can't you behave Jou?" the amethyst-eyed boy said.

"It's all Malik's fault! He's corrupted my mind!" Katsuya Jounouchi, or Jou, said throwing his hands up in the air dramatically.

Right at that moment a white-haired boy with chocolate brown eyes and an Egyptian with blonde hair and lavender eyes approached them. "Your mind was already corrupted by the time I came along," the Egyptian one said humorously.

The white-haired boy giggled softly. "Did you get in trouble again Jou?"

Jou threw his arm around the chocolate-eyed boy and said: "Now Ryou. Would you honestly believe that I would get myself in trouble?"

Ryou pretended to think for a second and after a dramatic pause said: "Yes."

Ryou then turned to Yugi and said: "I've been trying all day to keep Malik in check so, as far as I know, he's been completely behaved today."

Yugi brushed his gold bangs to the side as he looked around for a moment. "Where is Malik?"

Jou laughed. "Oh, he mumbled something about blowing up the science lab again and then took off."

Ryou's eyes went wide and before they knew it, the white-haired boy was running frantically down the hall while cursing loudly.

Yugi giggled softly and then turned back to his blonde friend. "Jou, I swear, you and Malik are always getting into trouble."

Jou smiled. "Well, there's nothing else to do around this godforsaken school!"

"You could try doing your work?" Yugi said sounding hopeful.

"I could...but that sounds a little boring don't you think?" Jou said with a smile.

"Jou, life is what you make it. You can't just sit around hoping for something exciting or interesting to happen," Yugi said sternly.

"Yeah, i guess you're right," Jou said feigning comprehension.

"You're just going to go right back to sleep when we get to our next class, aren't you?" Yugi said crossing his arms and tapping his foot.

"Um...yup," Jou replied with a grin.

Yugi rolled his eyes and laughed when Jou ruffled his black and red mane. "Come on, Jou. Let's get to class."

Jou nodded before sprinting off; forcing the other boy to run after him.

…

"Yugi Moto. Seventeen years old. Both parents deceased. Only child. Currently lives with his grandfather in a game shop," Yami said aloud as he read through Yugi's biography.

Yami, Kaiba, Bakura, and Marik were currently all reading over their target's profiles. It was always a good idea to know your target so before a mission, the four boys would read through their mission summary and then go through the targets individually.

"Katsuya Jounouchi," Kaiba said scanning the boy's picture. "Eighteen years old. Parents Divorced. One younger sister. Lives alone with his drunken father."

"Ryou Bakura," Bakura said slightly surprised at his target's last name being the same as his. "Seventeen years old. Mother deceased. Only child. Lives with his father who travels."

"Malik Ishtar," Marik said nonchalantly. "Eighteen years old. Parents live in Egypt. Lives with his older sister."

"Interesting bunch," Kaiba said when they finished.

"Sure is," Yami said closing the yellow folder that contained his target's private information.

"So…we have to become friends with these people?" Bakura said with a hint of distaste.

Yami nodded and Marik groaned.

"I hate these uncover things! Why can't we just kill them!?" Marik said.

Bakura laughed at Marik's impatience. His Egyptian friend was more of a 'get in, get the job done, get out' type of guy. Not one for having to wait around.

Just then Pegasus walked in. "I need you all to get some rest. You do start school tomorrow."

Marik slapped his hands over his eyes. "Why don't you just kill me now?"

Yami smiled over at his friend before turning his attention back to their leader. "It's not even that late—"

Pegasus held up his hand. "I don't want to hear it. My favorite boys have to be well rested. I want everything to go according to plan. No mess ups, got it?"

Yami nodded as they all stood to their feet. "We won't mess up," Yami said as they all walked off in different directions.

"I hope not," Pegasus whispered to himself as he walked back into his office.

…TBC…

Yuri: Please Review guys! Love you all! See you next time!


	3. Meetings

Yuri: Hi guys! Here's the next chapter of YIB! Enjoy!

…Meetings…

Yami growled out in frustration as he looked over his class schedule. Art? Politics? Chemistry? What the fuck was this?

He leaned against the white-painted wall and then turned his head when he the door beside him swung open with such intensity that Yami was actually surprised that the door didn't break into the wall.

"Angry?" Yami said amusingly to his white-haired friend who appeared from the doorway. The brown-eyed boy was obviously upset about his classes as well but, unlike Yami, Bakura could never hold in his anger well.

"No fucking shit," Bakura said angrily as he pushed a passing student into the wall harshly. Said student yelled out in pain before quickly sprinting off into a nearby classroom.

"Bakura!" Kaiba reprimanded, appearing from the same room that Yami and Bakura had only moments before. "Behave yourself."

Bakura glared in Kaiba's direction and mumbled a few curses under his breath. Yami sighed in relief when he saw Marik appear as well. Finally the long, drawn-out process of receiving their schedules was done. But now a bigger task began…finding their classes.

Unfortunately, none of them had their first period class in common. So after a few swears from Bakura and a few demanding orders from Kaiba, everyone set off in different directions.

Currently, Yami was roaming the halls searching for his economics class. This, to say the least, was not going so well. After a couple dozen hallways and about a million classroom doors, Yami punched a nearby locker, denting it in the process. Damnit! How was he supposed to find his target in this cursed building of death when he couldn't even find the right classroom.

The uncover assassin was so angry that he didn't notice a small teen standing next to him with a frown on his face.

"Umm…excuse me," the weak voice said causing Yami to snap his head around at the person who had interrupted him from his thoughts. To his astonishment it was none other than the boy who he was just thinking about.

"But umm…can you please get your fist out of my locker?" the boy continued.

Yami quickly withdrew his clenched fist from the black-colored locker as he mentally cursed to himself. Out of all the lockers in this damn school, he had to damage the locker of the one boy that he had to befriend. '_Of course_,' Yami thought bitterly and then aloud he said almost immediately: "I'm sorry."

Yugi sighed as he looked at his locker. "So, what did my locker do to you?"

"Nothing, it was an accident," Yami said and then leaned against the wall next to the boy. "By the way, my name is Yami. I'm new here."

Yugi nodded. "My name is Yugi."

Yami bit back the urge to say 'I know' and instead said: "Yugi? Well, that's a cute name."

A small pink tint arose in Yugi's cheeks. "Thanks. It's nice to me you Yami," Yugi said. "Do you need any help getting to your class?"

Yami nodded and handed his small look-a-like a sheet with his class schedule. Yugi, in turn, widened his eyes in shock as he looked down the familiar list.

"All of our classes are the same!" Yugi said incredulously.

"You don't say!" Yami said with a smile. He knew that Pegasus had purposely done this.

"Well," Yami continued. "Maybe we can walk to all of our classes together. It would help me learn the blueprint of this school better and maybe I could make the whole locker incident up to you."

Yugi barely noticed the strange word choice of 'blueprint' but ignored it. "Okay," the amethyst-eyed boy said. "Let's go then."

Yami nodded and walked side by side his new 'friend' as he began to ask little Yugi about his life even though he already knew everything about it.

…

Kaiba was the most intelligent out of the assassins so he found his class immediately. Not only that, but he had also found his target.

"Katsuya Jounouchi," Kaiba said standing in front of a lazy-looking blonde.

Said boy glanced up at the brunet and raised an eyebrow. "Who wants to know?"

Kaiba took an empty seat and sat next the boy. "No one," Kaiba said, "I already know."

Jou furrowed his eyebrows. "That's nice but the real question is who are you?"

"Kaiba," was all the brunet said.

Jou looked at Kaiba quizzically. "So what do you want?"

"Nothing," Kaiba said taking out a black laptop.

Jou frowned angrily. This guy had barely said anything to him but he was already getting annoyed by his presence.

"So is there any reason—"

Jou was interrupted by Kaiba's hand. "Shh, you talk too much."

Jou instantly stood to his feet. "What did you say?!"

Kaiba didn't even take his eyes off of his work. "I said you talk too much. What are you deaf?"

Jou growled which only made Kaiba laugh. "You're like an annoying little puppy," Kaiba said.

Jou clenched his fist. "Don't you dare call me that! I'm not a fucking dog!" Jou yelled and then was immediately silenced by the demanding voice of the teacher.

"Katsuya! How dare you talk like that in my class!" the woman screamed.

"No, it's not my fault! He started it!" Jou said pointing to the brunet who was sitting in his seat with his hands folded looking innocent.

"I'm ashamed of you Katsuya! Blaming something on a new student! Detention after school," the teacher yelled.

"But—" Jou said trying to save himself.

"No buts!" the woman said threateningly.

Jou growled and plopped down in his chair. "I hate you," he puffed out with narrowed eyes to the brunet sitting next to him.

Kaiba only rolled his eyes. _What an excellent start._

…

Bakura was not so lucky as Kaiba when it came to finding his class.

The dark brown-eyed teen was currently storming angrily down a hall with clenched fist by his side. Every student that came into his line of view instantly backed up against their locker to let him past.

He couldn't find a stupid fucking class and it was aggravating him to no end. He was so absorbed with his own thoughts of murdering the next person that he saw that he barely noticed when someone collided with him.

As an impulse, Bakura took a dagger out from his back pocket and held it up to the unfortunate soul who dared to bump into him. Bakura glared death into the gentle brown eyes that he was looking into. It didn't take him long to realize how familiar those eyes looked.

Shit.

That was the only word that crossed his mind.

"I'm so sorry," said an extremely frightened voice.

Bakura immediately withdrew the dagger from the pale neck. "I apologize; I thought you were one of my friends."

The boy that Bakura knew to be Ryou looked at him in shock. "You hold knives up to friend's necks and threaten their lives?"

Bakura chuckled. "Actually yeah."

Ryou widened his eyes in fear and then took off in the opposite direction. Bakura just watched as the boy that he was suppose to become friends with run away from him in fear.

"FUCK!" Bakura yelled as he threw a dagger across the hall which stuck into a wall only inches away from another student's face.

Bakura continued to mentally curse as he walked over and yanked out his dagger from the wall, stepping over the now passed out student on the floor.

He hated these undercover missions!

…

Marik sat in the back of his class and watched with curious eyes the boy only a few seats in front of him. Marik had been able to find his class due to some instructions that a teacher had given him. And now, he was only feet away from his target. Ra, why couldn't he just kill everyone in this entire building? Marik was just as dangerous as Bakura but unlike his albino friend, he was able to control himself. Bakura on the other hand was known to kill a whole classroom full of people if something ticked him off. Marik was well aware that he needed to try to compose himself and could not attempt to kill someone while undercover.

"Hello everyone!" the teacher said happily as she walked inside the classroom. "I have a special group project that I want you all to work on! So when I call out your names just pair up with your partner. I'll give the assignment after."

"So let's see," the teacher continued. "Rex and Weevil…Anzu and Honda…Malik and Marik…"

Marik stopped listening to the teacher after that and quickly found a seat next to who he knew to be Malik.

"My name is—" Marik began trying to introduce himself but was rudely cut off.

"I don't care," the other Egyptian boy said.

Marik glared and with a then said politely: "I believe we're partners—"

"So the fuck what? You want a cookie?" Malik said and then turning to face the other said dangerously low: "Listen and listen good. I don't fucking care who you are or what you do. We're partners and that's it. I don't want to be friends or anything else. When you're done with your half of whatever the fuck we're doing then give it to me and that's it. Do you understand?"

Marik bit his lip. He made a mental note to kill this boy as soon as he possibly could. How dare he talk to him like that? He had no idea who he was messing with! Marik didn't even respond to the boy in fear that he might try to kill him right then and there so instead he stood to his feet and moved to the back of the class. Malik was going to pay…he was going to pay dearly.

…

Progress Reports…

That was the title of the document lying on the table in front of the four uncover assassins when they had reached the headquarters.

Yami laughed. "I'm dying to hear the progress that you have all made today…Kaiba?"

Kaiba snorted and said bitterly. "I made decent progress today."

Marik snickered. "He hates you doesn't he?"

Kaiba nodded which caused an uproar of laughter from the rest of the table. This only made the brunet angry.

"Oh and you all did so well is that right? What about you Bakura?" Kaiba questioned with narrowed eyes and a smirk.

Bakura returned Kaiba's glare. "I did fine!" Bakura lied.

"Let me guess," Yami said with a smug smile. "He's terrified of you."

Bakura growled and Yami ducked as a small dagger flew past where his head use to be.

"I take that as a yes," Yami said and then glanced towards Marik.

"Me?" Marik said. "Well me, I just hate my target's guts and want to kill him as slowly and painfully as possible."

Yami rolled his eyes. "Well, my target's already agreed to walk me to all of my classes," Yami said with an air of superiority.

Suddenly clapping was heard and the four assassins turned around in their seats to come face to face with Pegasus.

"Congratulations!" Pegasus said. "I was just listening to the progress you all have made today and I have to say that I am very proud of all of you. No casualties' right?"

Everyone in the room looked at Bakura accusingly.

"No, I didn't kill anyone today!" Bakura said angrily.

"Great!" Pegasus said. "We can't blow are cover so I need you all to be on your best behavior."

Once again, everyone looked at Bakura who began to get very frustrated. "Hey, I can't promise anything especially with this one," Bakura said pointing to Yami. "But I will say that I'll try to keep the casualty count low."

Pegasus patted Bakura on the back. "That's all I ask," he said and then turned to the rest of the group. "So, I want you all to finish up and then get some shut eye. I expect a lot more progress tomorrow. Understand?"

Everyone nodded and with that, their leader disappeared leaving the four to themselves once again.

"I think tomorrow is going to be a good day," Yami said with a smile as he leaned back in his chair. He ignored the gust of wind that flew by his left cheek and didn't turn when a he heard a dagger stick into the wall behind him. Guess Bakura didn't agree with him.

…TBC…

Yuri: Okay so that's it for now. Please Review! They make me very happy! Love you all! Till next time!


	4. Arising Conflicts

Yuri: Hi!! Guess what??

Yugi: What??

Yuri: For those of you who have read my story 'Find Me' good news!! I'm writing a sequel!!

Yami: Really?!

Yuri: Yup!! You can find a summary on my homepage under upcoming stories. In other news, if you have been reading 'Forever' but haven't checked out my page in a while then you probably don't know that that story has been temporarily put on hold. I have a slight writer's block but don't worry, it'll be over soon. Anyways I talk too much! Enjoy the next chapter!!

…Arising Conflicts…

Yugi glanced around the small classroom with suspicious eyes. One side of the room sat a fuming Jounouchi, the other a silent Ryou, and then in the back a frowning Malik. What was wrong with all of his friends? Yesterday had been so awkward and today seemed no different. The amethyst-eyed boy tapped on his desk impatiently and then turned his innocent eyes to the white circle plastered on the light blue walls above his teacher's head. The bell rang with a violent sound, making more than half of the student body jump in surprise. As students filed out of the room lazily, Yugi pulled a distracted Jou towards him.

"Jou," Yugi said causing the sharp, honey brown eyes to look at him. "Is something wrong?" Yugi asked, concern slipping into his voice. The brown eyes softened and a small smile found its way onto Jou's face.

"I'm fine Yug," Jou said and then suddenly his face hardened again. "There's just this guy that's bothering me. Because of him, I got detention…again."

Yugi smiled brightly. "Oh, okay Jou. Just ignore him, then he'll leave you alone," the smaller of the two advised. Jou nodded in agreement and patted Yugi on the back.

"Thanks buddy. You always make me feel better!" Jou said and ruffled the boy's hair roughly.

"Jou!" Yugi protested as he slid away from the blonde's grasp. Jou stopped suddenly and Yugi followed his friend's eyes until his own landed on a taller youth with handsome crimson-eyes.

"Hi Yami," Yugi said with a good-natured tone. Yami smiled in response.

"Good morning Little One," Yami said politely and the other boy blushed slightly at the nickname. Jou, on the other hand, did not look pleased. There was something about the other boy that Jou didn't like. He didn't trust him at all.

"Who are you?" Jou said rudely. Yami's eyes narrowed slightly at the blonde and Yugi, sensing trouble arising, quickly interrupted.

"Jou, this is Yami," Yugi said gesturing to the teen. "He's new here. I'm showing him to all his classes."

Jou growled. "Why?" the blonde scoffed. "He looks perfectly capable of finding his own classes."

Yugi frowned slightly at Jou's remark but Yami, unexpectedly, smirked. He noticed the blonde as Kaiba's target. "It just happens," Yami said slowly, wrapping his arms around Yugi's small waist and pulling the boy, who was blushing furiously at the contact, towards him and away from the blonde. "That I like having Yugi show me around. He's very kind," Yami said with a humorous glint in his crimson orbs. Jou scowled as he glared at Yami's arm that continued to intertwine themselves around his small friend's waist. Yugi was beyond uncomfortable.

"Yami, we should go," Yugi urged and pushed the taller one towards the door. "See you at lunch," Yugi said turning to Jou once more before finally leaving the room. Jou continued to glare in the direction that the two boys left but jumped when he heard the bell ring again.

"Your friend is very odd," Yami mused as he began to walk down the hallway besides Yugi. The smaller nodded.

"He's just very protective. He's like a big brother," Yugi explained. "He just wants to look out for me." Yami nodded and then glanced over to the other. Already, Yami had become very familiar with that bright smile that Yugi always seemed to wear. 'How could someone be so happy all the time?' Yami asked himself and then smiled slightly. 'It's going to be a shame to kill such a precious boy like him,' Yami said in his head. 'But it's all part of the job.'

However, he did have to watch out for that blonde. Yami didn't need any attention, especially from one of Yugi's friends. And for some reason or another, that boy was very suspicious of him.

Yami looked down when he felt a small tug on his sleeve and looked down as dark crimson met with lovely amethyst. Yami suddenly felt a sharp pang in his chest but quickly shook it off without even a second thought.

"Yes?" Yami said quietly. Yugi pointed the door next to them. "This is art class," Yugi said with a smile. Yami looked at the door and then back at Yugi.

"Great," Yami said sarcastically and then, after holding the door open for the smaller of the two, walked in. He thought back to a few seconds ago when he and Yugi's eyes had met. Something caught his attention. It looked as though for a moment, Yugi's eyes held something…dark inside of them. Something sinister…Yami laughed in his head. Something sinister? About Yugi? Ha! Wow was he imagining things today!

…

Malik sighed regretfully. He had been such a rude prick to everyone yesterday. Even to his friends. It was all because of Isis, his older sister. She had punished him like a child the other day and, as a result, Malik had behaved very poorly to those around him. He had even snapped at Ryou and Yugi! Oh man did he feel guilty. However, he planned to make it all up to everyone he had flipped out on.

The platinum haired boy looked up as every student walked into class. He spotted a wild mane of blonde not to far away from him and let out a long sigh. There was the first person he had to apologize to. Even though Malik was not the one to say sorry, he knew that what he had done yesterday was uncalled for so he was willing to suck it up and apologize.

Once the teacher had instructed everyone to pair up with their partners, Malik quickly made his way next to the boy who looked so much like him and sat down beside him. "Hi," Malik said slowly only to get no response from the person next to him.

Malik nodded in understanding. "Listen, I'm sorry about yesterday—"

The purple-eyed boy was abruptly cut off by Marik's indignant voice. "So the fuck what?" Marik mocked sinisterly not even raising his gaze to meet the others.

Malik was slightly taken aback. "Look, I know you're pissed at me for yesterday and you have every right to be—"

"You're damn right," Marik scoffed.

Malik slightly narrowed his eyes at the other boy's constant interruptions. "Anyways, I'm sorry. I was just having a bad day. I didn't mean to take it out on you," Malik said as he clenched his fist under the table. It was not that easy to apologize, especially to a jerk like the teen next to him.

The other finally looked at him with slightly annoyed eyes. In all honesty, Marik wanted to kill Malik right then and there and by the look of it the feelings were mutual, however, the taller of the two thought better of it and instead just nodded.

"Okay," was all Marik said.

Malik took a deep breath. 'Well, thank Ra that torture was over,' he thought to himself.

Now, if only he could find his friends…

…

Bakura glared at the back of his target's head and all Ryou could do was shrink further and further into his seat as he felt Bakura's dark brown eyes pierce right through him.

For the past two classes, Bakura had been trying to get the other to talk to him but, of course, he would have to go and say something stupid that would only scare the smaller away.

It was now third period and Bakura was becoming extremely annoyed. He was starting to like Marik's point of view and wanted to just kill the four boys and get it over with but he knew he couldn't do that, much to his dismay.

At least he had gotten the other to talk to him long enough for the innocent boy to tell him his name, even though he knew it anyway.

Bakura's glare turned when a giggling girl took a seat next to him.

"Hi," the brunette girl said happily.

Bakura flinched at the girl's high-pitched voice. "What do you want?" Bakura hissed.

The brunette didn't even seem to take notice of the threatening manner Bakura talked to her in.

"My name is—"

Bakura stopped her at once. "I don't care! Go find some other person to harass!" Bakura whispered viciously.

The girl stopped for a moment but then laughed: "Oh, so you want to play hard to get?"

Bakura turned on her at once grabbing the dagger from his pocket but right before he could do anything stupid, someone grabbed his arm harshly…

…TBC…

Yuri: Who could have known Bakura was going to do something? OoOo Guess you have to read next time. And what is exactly did Yami see in Yugi's eyes? Hehe! Anyways sorry puppyshippers! No Jou and Kaiba madness this chapter but don't worry, you will not be disappointed next time! Please Review! See you guys later!


	5. Mistaken Identity

Yuri: Hey guys! Here's the next chapter! And for those who said it was Ryou who grabbed him…Ha! You were wrong! MUHAHAHA! Anyways enjoy my little lovelies!

…Mistaken Identity…

"Bakura!" Yami yelled sharply as he tightened his grip on his companion's forearm. The white-haired boy growled as he turned to meet flaring crimson eyes. Instantly, all eyes were on the two boys standing in the middle of the class. Yami looked around quickly and then let his gaze wander over to Bakura again.

Suddenly, Yami began to whisper dangerously low but in a different language. Bakura responded with equal intensity but nevertheless took a seat. The teacher, who had remained silent thus far, cleared her throat loudly and said: "What seems to be the problem here?"

Yami shook his head politely: "My apologies. I just had to_ inform_ my dear friend here of some family matters. Please excuse my interruption."

The teacher smiled warmly at the polite reply and waved Yami off. The boy in question exited the room, leaving a very pissed off Bakura and a very confused class, which was quickly resumed. Bakura glanced up from the spot in the floor that he was burning a hole into with his eyes to see curious lighter brown eyes looking at him.

The sound of the bell sent a jolt throughout the classroom and students urgently filed out disorderly but Bakura sat still in his seat and kept his gaze on his target. He was surprised to see the other boy slowly walk over to him.

"What was that all about?" Ryou questioned suspiciously when he approached the glaring teen. Bakura raised an eyebrow at the boy's sudden courage to talk to him but shoved the thought aside as nothing more than good luck for him. With a smirk, Bakura stood to his feet and picked up his bag from the floor.

"Nothing," Bakura said as motioned for the other to walk out with him. Ryou paused for a moment but followed the undercover assassin out anyways. Bakura watched the smaller with interest as they began to walk down a long corridor. It was very odd to him that Ryou had finally talked to him so suddenly. Not only that but all the latter's apparent fear of him had completely vanished…as though Ryou was never really intimidated by him.

"What language were you two speaking?" Ryou asked, his thirst for answers not satisfied. Bakura shrugged and, without a second thought, said nonchalantly: "Latin."

Ryou's brown eyes dilated at the sudden information. "Latin?" Ryou repeated. "How do you know Latin?" he continued curiously. Bakura furrowed his eyebrows. Ryou was asking way too many questions for his own good.

"So how come you've finally decided to talk to me without running away?" Bakura said with a slight smirk, completely ignoring Ryou's previous question and asking some of his own.

Ryou glared angrily but quickly a flash of realization hit him and his features instantly softened as his voice began to quaver like it did in their previous conversations. "I don't know but I should probably get to class," the smaller teen said anxiously.

Bakura grabbed Ryou's arm, stopping the other from walking away. "Wait, I've noticed that we have all of are classes together so why don't we just walk together?" Bakura said as he attempted to keep himself from throwing up at being so polite.

Ryou's gaze fell to the floor. He wasn't really sure how high Bakura's sanity level was but in the short time that he had known him, it appeared that it was probably pretty low. "Umm…I don't know—" he began but was quickly cut off.

"Please," Bakura said promising himself to wash his mouth out with soap at using that cursed word. Ryou looked slightly taken aback but slowly and unsurely nodded his head.

"Okay, I guess that would be fine," Ryou said hesitantly and Bakura mentally patted himself on the back for his achievement. Bakura winced angrily when he saw two familiar faces motioning for him.

"But I have to do something so I'll see you in class," Bakura said and didn't give Ryou time to respond as he took off at lightening fast speed. Ryou watched as the papers that he held neatly in his hands flew about and then gently made the ay to the floor. The glare that had seemed so uncharacteristic of the brown-eyed teen graced his gentle features as he looked at his papers on the ground.

Meanwhile, Bakura had made his way over to two unhappy faces. "What?" he spat out in frustration at having to leave Ryou after finally persuaded the boy to even tolerate him.

Yami, who had his back leaning against one of the lockers with his arms crossed and one of his feet pressing against the locker as well, scowled at the other's tone. "What?!" Yami repeated angrily as his crimson eyes turned into raging fireballs. Kaiba coughed in his throat, making Yami aware of their surroundings once again.

Yami's face flushed a light pink when he realized that people around them had paused to stare at the scene he was creating. After a few moments, people began to walk towards their classes again and Yami turned to Bakura and spoke in Latin with a low but seriously deadly voice: _"You could have blown our cover you incompetent bastard!"_

Bakura narrowed his dark colored eyes. _"Me? You're the one who ran into my class as you were passing by and then started shouting in a different language! How suspicious is that?!" _the white-haired assassin yelled in his defense.

Yami shifted his body weight off of the locker and was now standing on his two feet. _"If I didn't then you would have killed that girl and we would have been exposed for sure! And the mission would have been a failure and I refuse to fail a mission because of your idiotic ass!"_

_"This might not be the best place to discuss this_," Kaiba said finally speaking up as he noticed the halls beginning to clear. His ice blue eyes narrowed when he caught a glimpse of blonde tresses of hair sticking out of a corner nearby.

"_We have company_," the brunet said warningly. The other two boys instantly became more alert of their surroundings and soon spotted the hair peeking out of the corner as well.

"_It's your damn mutt!" _Yami hissed_. "Keep him on a short leash, understand? He's too suspicious and he'll ruin everything!"_

Kaiba smirked. "_I can control him_," the blue-eyed assassin said sternly. Yami only scoffed.

"_We'll see_," the leader of the group said and then quickly turned back to the Bakura. "_And you…control yourself_," Yami said before walking off.

"_Oh yes Mighty One_!" Bakura jeered after the crimson-eyed youth and then stomped off in the opposite direction. Kaiba sighed at his fellow operative's immaturity and then quietly made his way to the end of the hallway.

Meanwhile, Jou was leaning as close as he could against the wall around the corner. When he had saw Kaiba and Yami talking, he tried to listen to what they were saying but could barely make their words out. He got even more confused when they began to speak a different language.

But now the voices had abruptly ceased and Jou leaned in closer but could still hear nothing. Deciding that the coast was clear, the blonde walked out of the sharp corner only to collide with a hard body. He fell to the floor and winced out in pain but then instantly redirected his attention to the person standing over him.

"Eavesdropping Katsuya?" Kaiba said with a smirk.

Jou quickly scrambled back up to his feet and pointed an accusing finer at the brunet's chest. "No! I just happened to overhear your conversation! What the hell are you and those other two up to!? What language was that?"

Kaiba laughed as he lowered Jou's finger with his hand. "What we were talking about is none of your concern. It would be best for you if you didn't meddle into other people's business," the brunet said.

Jou glowered and yelled out angrily: "I know you're up to no good! And so is that Yami guy! You tell him to keep his hands off of my pal! Got it?"

"Whatever you say Katsuya," Kaiba said not really listening. He then grabbed on to Jou's hand and began to drag him away.

"What the hell? What do you think you're doing?!" Jou demanded as he wriggled his hand out of the brunet's grasp.

Kaiba sighed and gave the blonde an exasperated look. "I'm taking you to class. We are late enough as it is."

"I can take myself!" Jou said before storming off into a door nearby. Kaiba cursed silently. Why did he always get the annoying targets?

…

Yami fumed in the back of his current classroom. The thought of him not being able to complete a mission due to the lack of intelligence of his companions was pissing him off to no end. The teen was so involved in his thoughts that he didn't realize that someone had taken a seat next to him.

"Hi Yami," Yugi said nicely but slightly flinched when Yami turned his dark eyes on him violently. The taller's facial features instantly softened when he noticed that he had scared the other.

"I'm sorry Yugi. One of my friends ticked me off," Yami said but then quickly changed the subject. "How are you though?"

Yugi smiled brightly. "I'm fine," he said and then looked up when the teacher walked up to them and placed a paper face down right in between the two tri-colored haired boys.

Yami groaned. "Great! That's all I need!" the crimson-eyed boy yelled out assuming that it was a pop quiz. Yugi giggled at the other's remark and then made a grab for the paper. However, so did Yami.

Yugi blinked at the sight of having other's hand rest over his gently. Yami stared at their touching hands as well and suddenly he felt a flood of emotions fill that void in his heart that had been there ever since he became an assassin. After a minute or two, Yami quickly withdrew his hand.

"I'm sorry," the two boys said in unison as they looked away from each other. While Yugi was trying to get the pink tint out of cheeks, Yami was cursing at himself for leaving his hand on the other's for so long.

"So…" Yami said trying to make the situation less awkward. "What does the paper say?"

Yugi turned and reached out once again for the paper, ignoring the curious look Yami was giving him. "Umm…" Yugi said scanning the paper. "It says that we have a group project coming up."

Yami sighed. "Oh okay…so you want to be—"

"Partners?" Yugi said almost hopefully.

Yami nodded and Yugi smiled. "Sure," the smaller said. The class became quiet when the teacher began to talk and for the rest of the time, Yugi and Yami kept their attention towards the front of the class. Of course, not without sneaking little peaks at each other every now and then.

Towards the end of the class, their eyes met sending a jolt down Yami's spine and a blush to Yugi's cheeks.

…

The room was quiet as a lone figure sat patiently in a black leather chair behind a desk with neatly piled papers on top. The long, blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail and the mystic purple eyes focused on the yellow folder lying in the middle of the desk. The alluring eyes looked up when the door to the office creaked open and a small smile graced the perfectly rosy lips.

"Hello _Violet_. How was school?" said the blonde seated at the desk.

A teen dressed in all black leather with chains draped around his waist sat down in the chair across from the person who spoke to him and said simply: "Tiring."

The blonde nodded and said: "How are the others? Staying out of trouble?"

The boy smiled. "They never are," he said.

Suddenly the atmosphere became tense and the blonde passed the yellow folder across the desk. "This is your next mission," said the blonde. "Read the summary and come find me if you have any questions. Give the others their new targets as well."

The teen youth nodded and quickly made his exit. Once he got outside of the office, he walked over to a large glass table and slowly opened the folder only to see a very familiar face.

He stared in shock as the picture of his target fell out of his hands and onto the ground.

…TBC…

Yuri: Okay listen up! You people who keep reading this story and like it but are too lazy to review need to STOP being lazy! I work really hard on my stories so it is appreciated when people actually show an interest! PLEASE REVIEW because I don't want to feel like I'm wasting my time. Even if you don't have an account, you can still review anonymously. For my readers who always review thank you so much! It means a lot!

Anyways as for next time: What's up with Ryou? Who's this mysterious blonde and who's the teen working for them? Who's the new target? Hehe I'm evil.


	6. So Familiar

Yuri: Look at that! –stomps over to the edge of the page-

Malik: What?

Yuri: Look down there! –points below-

Marik: Wow…there's a lot of reviews down there.

Yuri: Double! I got double the number of reviews I usually do just because I yelled at you guys! I'm always so nice and tell you all how much I love you and I get a decent number of reviews but I threaten and get twice as many. I don't want to yell at you guys every chapter though so I just hope you guys continue to review okay? See you at the bottom! Enjoy!

...So Familiar...

A young blonde teen leaned back in a black chair with his head hanging over the top and his feet crossed on the table in front of him. His hands interlinked at the back of his head for support as the boy began to drift off into a light slumber; his honey eyes almost completely closed. He would have been sleeping by now if someone didn't come running into the room frantically.

"Lab! Lab!" someone called out anxiously. The blonde groaned as he reluctantly opened an eyelid to see wide amethyst eyes. The urgency in those orbs made the blonde sit upright instantly and all the sleepiness that drowned his mind from before completely vanished.

"What is it Violet?" the boy referred to as 'Lab' asked worriedly. The smaller of the two passed him a yellow folder and the blonde eyed it suspiciously.

"Lab, we got assigned new targets but I don't think I can go through with mine," Violet said, sadness creeping into his voice. The blonde could only raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean? You're one of the best assassins in HIB. Why wouldn't you be able to dispose of this new target?" Lab asked curiously.

"I can't," Violet said sadly.

"You can't what?" someone asked from the corner of the room. Both Violet and Lab turned to see their two friends walk into the spacious room. The two newcomers both grabbed a seat at the table and one of them yelled happily when he spotted the four folders in Violet's hands.

"We got new targets today!" the assassin known as Bronze said snatching the folder with his name on it out of the amethyst eyed boy's grasp. The other boy called Silver only sighed at his friend's antics as he reached out and patiently waited for Violet to pass him his.

Lab also took his folder and all the boys opened their folders at the same time, except for Violet who was sitting quietly deep in his own thoughts. Dead silence followed as each boy stared at the picture in front of them.

"Where's the case summary?" Lab asked suspiciously. Violet looked at his blonde friend for a moment before pulling out a white piece of paper and handing it to him. However, at that moment, their leader walked in with her piercing purple eyes staring straight at the four boys.

"We have a problem," the woman said when she reached the table. Violet instantly focused all of his attention on the blonde woman in front of him as she continued to speak.

"It seems that Michael has returned," the leader said seriously.

"Michael Zikasi?" Yugi said in shock. How was he still alive?

The woman nodded. "I need you all to go get him immediately. I want him. Dead or alive," she said sternly.

The four boys nodded and their leader reached over and passed Violet another folder. "The coordinates are there. Don't fail me."

Violet nodded once again. "We won't Mai."

Mai smiled and then exited the room. Lab sighed. "It looks like we will have to postpone reading over the case summary."

The others nodded as they closed their folders and placed them carefully in the middle of the table. Each boy then walk over to a nearby counter which had dozens of accessories scattered on it. Each HIB operative tied their hair in a ponytail, except for Lab since his hair was too short, and then stuffed it underneath a black hat. After they each placed dark sunglasses over their eyes. They needed to protect their identity in every way possible. After a few more things, they all threw on black overcoats and then made their way outside.

…

Yami punched the red bag in front of him with so much force that it was quite surprising that the bag didn't break. Slightly farther away from him stood both Kaiba and Bakura who were fighting ruthlessly with each other in a sparing match. The two assassins always used these opportunities to practice their agility and Marik, who was on the other side of the room, was focused on his strength as he picked up 100lbs weights while lying on his back. This was a daily routine for the four boys.

A one point, Yami kicked the large bag in front of him so hard that it bounced loudly against the wall, making all the boys turn their attention to the spiky haired youth.

"What the hell is up with you today?" Kaiba asked curiously. Yami stopped beating the bag to gaze at the brunet and with a dangerously low tone, Yami declared: "Nothing. I'm fine."

That was a blatant lie. The truth was that Yami was confused. He was confused about Yugi.

Yugi was supposed to be nothing more than a target to him. But with each passing day, Yami was feeling less capable of actually going through with killing him. Why was this happening? Yami was one of the most ruthless assassins ever. He didn't care about anyone…except for _him._

Yami smiled bitterly. It was ironic that every person that Yami seemed to develop feelings for was those who he was ordered to kill. Yami looked to the side when he heard someone walk in.

"Yes Pegasus?" Yami asked curiously. It was like Pegasus to interrupt them while they were in practice. The white-haired man smiled.

"Great news boys! I have an urgent assignment for you," Pegasus announced catching the undivided attention of everyone in the room. "It appears that we have finally located Michael Zikasi."

Yami's ears perked. Michael Zikasi was a spy for HIB, their rival company. The Hikaris In Black, or HIB, had sent Michael who had gone uncover and had found out valuable information about the operatives at YIB. After Michael had been exposed, he had gone on the run. It was rumored that he had betrayed HIB and so both of the rival companies had been searching for him…until now.

"You all have to be on alert," Pegasus continued. "I have no doubt that Mai will try to get to him first and send her four boys so be on your guard. Understand? The coordinates of Michael's location is currently being sent to your computer," he said motioning towards Kaiba. "Be sure to address each other by you're other names only. Atemu, Dragon, Thief, and Black." Without another word, Pegasus left and the four assassins were left alone.

Bakura immediately walked over to his knife stash and examined a few long, skinny daggers before shoving them in his pockets. Kaiba picked up his laptop and watched the screen as a picture of an old, abandoned building came into sight. Marik was strapping on his black boots and then looked over to see Yami, who had his gaze towards the ground with his gold bangs creating a dark overcast over his crimson eyes.

Yami had an extremely bitter smirk plastered on his face. 'Violet,' he said to himself before turning and grabbing a small black gun that laid gently on the table next to him.

…

Violet signaled for Silver and Bronze to guard the door as he and Lab made their way through the broken down building that was surrounded by nothing but dead trees. It was late, probably about one in the morning. Once inside, the Lab and Violet were confronted with two doors. Lab raised an eyebrow. "Should we split up?"

Violet shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea. Michael is extremely dangerous. Not only that but YIB operatives are probably here as well."

Lab grinned. "I know but this way we can cover more ground faster."

Violet still looked unconvinced but Lab only smiled more. "Listen, we have these," Lab said pointing towards the black watches that each of them wore on their right arm which were actually communication devices. "So if we find something, we can just call the other for help. And Bronze and Silver are keeping an eye out for us. I really don't want to be out here all night. Especially since we have school tomorrow."

Violet sighed but nodded nonetheless. "Okay Lab. But if anything happens, then call okay?"

Lab nodded and then in an instant, they both took of into different directions. The room that Lab entered was a small gray colored room. It was very bleak and had an odd aroma to it. Lab let his amber eyes scan the room carefully before stepping out of the shadows. He tiptoed quietly into the middle of the room and out of the corner of his eye, he swore that he saw a shadow move behind him. He turned instantly but saw nothing.

Lab sighed and then his gaze fell on a dim light that was glowing in the corner. He walked over to it and was about to reach for it, when someone made a grab for his arm.

"Mutt, whatever are you doing here?" a harsh voice said full of amusement. Lab pulled his arm out of the trespassers grasp and jumped back a few steps.

"Dragon…I thought you would be here," Lab said with distaste.

The brunet referred to as Dragon nodded. "I came here searching for Michael and I find a lost dog…Oh well…I guess you'll have to do."

Jou jumped out of Kaiba's line of fire just in time to avoid a bullet. Lab growled at the other. "Wait! Before you go shooting people's heads off, there's something behind you!"

Dragon laughed humorously. "That's the oldest trick in the book."

Lab shrugged. "Fine but if you blow up into a million pieces, don't come crying to me!"

The brunet holding a small gun narrowed his eyes and with much reluctance took a second to look behind him. Lab was right. There was something there…but what—

Dragon fell back when someone kicked him roughly in his stomach. Lab smiled from over him. "Yeah, and I'm the dumb one," Lab said sarcastically but in a second winded up on the floor too as the brunet swung his feet underneath his own.

Lab arched back in pain and opened his eyes only to see a small object right next to his head. He could see it better now that it was right next to his face. It was black with a small red light on it. Lab tilted his head to the side and then his eyes widened in realization.

"It's a bomb!" Lab screamed quickly getting to his feet. Dragon looked at the small thing and after a few moments ran out of the door.

"Coward!" Lab yelled but the blonde wasted his time running out as well.

…

"What's taking them so long?" Bronze said impatiently. Silver sighed.

"You know you have to learn how to be more patient," the brown-eyed boy said with his hand dug deep into his pockets.

Bronze growled. "Yeah but—"

Silver looked up at his companion's sudden loss for words. "Is something wrong?"

Bronze put a finger to his lips signaling to other to keep quiet. He then closed his eyes and stood perfectly still. After another moment, Bronze yelled to his fellow operative: "Silver, watch out!"

Silver ducked to the ground as a small dagger flew right over his head. He looked up to see three more flying towards him but quickly deflected them with his own weapons.

"Thief! Show yourself!" Silver demanded. He was rewarded by cynical laughter as two figures appeared from the darkness.

"Silver," one of boys said slowly. "So glad you could make it."

Bronze kept his glare on both of the intruders. The one with skin like his own smiled. "Hello pretty," the teen known as Black said seductively. Bronze only narrowed his eyes further.

"If you value your life then leave! Silver and I have better matters then dealing with you two imbeciles," Bronze spat out furiously.

Thief laughed. "And if we don't?"

Suddenly the laughter stopped as Thief watched blood bubble out of a newly made gash on his arm. He looked up and stared deadly at Silver who was still in the position he was when he had thrown the dagger that had grazed Thief's arm.

Thief didn't hesitate and within a moment he had a knife at Silver's neck. Bronze made a move towards the two but was stopped by the other boy.

"Now now pretty. You should not meddle into their business," Black said and Bronze doubled over as the wind was knocked out of his lungs by Black's fist to his stomach.

Everything froze as someone ran from the building. Both Thief and Black scowled as they noticed who the person was.

"We need to get out!" Dragon ordered. The other two knew it was serious by the sound of the brunet's voice but…

"Damnit!" Thief yelled taking the knife away from Silver's neck. Yes, he still had time to slash the boy's throat but that wouldn't be any fun. He wanted to spend time killing Silver. Maybe he could even have a little fun with him as well.

Thief smiled. "Consider yourself lucky…for now," he said and then followed Dragon into the woods. Black frowned angrily but nevertheless disappeared as well.

Silver immediately ran to Bronze and lifted him off the ground. "Are you okay?"

Bronze nodded bitterly. "Yeah…"

They both looked up when Lab came running out. "Where's Yugi?!" he asked frantically.

Bronze widened his eyes. "We thought he was with you!"

"Oh god, he's still inside! We need to get him! This whole building is going to explode!" Lab cried.

Silver gasped in fear while Bronze just looked absolutely pissed. "Lab, why did you leave him?! You know what not right now, we don't have time! You go get in the car and get it started and Silver and I will go get him!" Bronze instructed.

Lab nodded and took off while the other two quickly ran inside of the building.

Meanwhile, Violet was searching a large room carefully. He had to be on his guard…just in case. He looked up when the lights began to flicker. After a few seconds, the light blew out and darkness filled the room. The only light was from the moon which shone the dark room but only slightly.

"Shit!" Violet cursed as he began to search for a new source of light.

"Violet," someone called out sinisterly. "Is that you?"

The amethyst-eyed boy smiled into the darkness. "Atemu?" Violet said turning around to see a shadowy figure a few feet away from him. The man was dressed identically to Violet. He wore a hat and a pair of sunglasses to cover up his identity as well as a long coat.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" The boy addressed as Atemu said in an amused tone. Violet only laughed. "Save it, Atemu. Why are you here?"

"I'm disappointed. I thought you would be excited to see me," Atemu scoffed.

"The only reason I would be happy to see you would be so that I could get rid of you. You've hurt too many innocent people for your own selfish desires," Violet said with pure disdain.

Atemu laughed. "I do not chose who it is that dies. That's my leader's job."

"But you are the one who carries it out," Violet argued.

Atemu shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "Well people have to die eventually," he said and then looked at Violet devilishly and added: "And so do you."

Without a moment's notice, Atemu whipped out a shotgun from his pocket and pointed it at where Violet once stood.

"You're getting faster Violet," Atemu said and then winced viciously in pain as he felt metal pierce his flesh.

"Yeah, but you're not," Violet said from his spot in the darkness. Atemu looked at his shoulder which was now bleeding profusely with narrowed eyes and then turned back to face the utter darkness with a smile. Within a moment Atemu's gun was pointing only inches away from Violet's head. The amethyst-eyed boy stared in shock at Atemu's weapon. How did he move so quickly?

Suddenly, Atemu reached out and caressed the soft rosy lips of his enemy. Violet was without a doubt taken aback by the gentle gesture but didn't move for Atemu's gun was still pointing at the spot between his eyes.

"You know," Atemu said with a smirk. "I've always wanted to feel these lips...to taste them. Ever since I met you. The reason that you were such a threat to me was because I was so captivated by you. I always knew that you were beautiful underneath that outfit and, Ra how I wanted you..." Atemu confessed almost bitterly. Violet was so stunned by the words that he almost didn't catch Atemu's next sentence.

"Too bad we are sworn enemies...under different circumstances...I could have loved you," Atemu said and then without any warning Violet felt warm lips claim his own. A violent spark flew down Violet's spine and millions of emotions and thoughts filled his mind. At first, he thought about struggling against his captor but before he knew it, he wrapped his arms around Atemu's neck and pressed into the kiss furiously. What was he doing? He shouldn't be doing this...but oh god Atemu was so...addicting.

Atemu didn't need anymore encouragement. In an instant, he had Violet's back against the wall with his body pinning the small boy. Atemu dropped his weapon to the ground as he reached out with both hands and grasped Violet's legs, pulling them up to wrap around his own waist, both of their hips grinding against each other causing another jolt to flow throughout the two boy's bodies. Violet didn't know what he was doing. He was supposed to hate Atemu...to kill him. But right now, all he wanted was the boy bruising his lips harshly. Atemu began to suck on Violet's bottom lip roughly as he pleaded desperately for entrance. Violet didn't hesitate and instantly Atemu's tongue made its way into Violet's mouth. The amethyst-eyed youth fought back as their tongues entered a duel for dominance.

After a few minutes, Atemu finally won his way deep into Violet's cavern and made sure to lick every crevice of his prize. The atmosphere heated up and the black leather that the two boys were wearing stuck to their bodies like glue. The need to breath was becoming urgent but neither one wanted to be the one to break the contact with each other. Eventually, they both felt unconsciousness coming near and at the same time, their lips separated.

Flushed red faces and heavy panting was all that could be seen and heard. Through the dark sunglasses, Atemu and Violet stared heatedly on each other. After a few moments, Violet couldn't take it anymore. He reached out gently for the other's glasses. He wanted to see them. He needed to see his eyes. He needed to know if the passion that he had felt in that kiss was in Atemu's eyes. If it was real.

Surprisingly, Atemu didn't stop him. His fingers grasped onto the edge of the dark sunglasses and he began to pull the shades away, and then...

BANG!

Atemu and Violet jumped away from each other in shock. It wasn't a moment later that Silver and Bronze came running in and Violet's eyes went wide as he watched them run towards Atemu.

Silver jumped into the air and spun around, sending several daggers flying towards Atemu's head. However, the small knives just fell straight to the ground as Atemu's body was now gone.

"Damnit!" Bronze cursed in an aggravated fashion. "Violet! Let's go!" the Egyptian boy said grabbing the other by the arm and quickly making a sprint towards the door that led out of the building.

"What's going on!?" Violet yelled, angry that his time with Atemu had been cut short. However, no one had bothered to answer him and instead focused on getting out the door. Just as the three got out of the building, a loud explosion was heard and the three boys fell face first onto the ground. Violet covered the back of his head with his hands as little pieces of the building foundation fell on top of him. When his ears stopped ringing from the vibration of the explosion, he turned around to see the large building that they were just in completely demolished to the ground.

"What the hell?" Violet yelled from his spot on the ground only feet away from the building. He winced suddenly as he noticed a large cut on his hand from the debris.

Silver grimaced as he sat upright on the ground and said bitterly: "It was a trap!"

Violet narrowed his eyes. Someone had tried to kill them. YIB? No, they were inside the building too. Did they all get out in time? Did Atemu? After a few more minutes of thinking, Violet asked simply: "By who?"

But all Silver could do was shrug his pale shoulders.

From a distance, a loud beeping noise was heard. "Lab's calling for us," Bronze said as he stood to his feet and wiped off the rubble from his clothes. He then reached out a hand and helped Violet and Silver off of the ground.

Bronze and Silver took one more look at the large mess before taking off. Violet was right behind him but then turned around when he heard a noise. He looked around suspiciously.

More beeping…

Violet took one last look and then ran from the sight. He didn't notice the crimson eyes staring into his back.

…

Yugi laid his head down flat on his desk. Last night was absolutely exhausting. It had drained him both physically and emotionally. Why did Atemu do that? Not that Yugi wasn't already confused enough about his feelings about Yami but now Atemu…that kiss had awakened all the latent feelings that Yugi had felt for him since the first day they met. Yugi wanted so desperately to bash his head against his desk. Why?! Why did Atemu screw him up so much! He couldn't think! He couldn't breathe!

Yugi sighed sadly and then jumped slightly when someone took a seat next to him. "I'm sorry," Yami said absent mindedly. Yugi just nodded. Yami was the last person that he needed to see right now. Why did he have to kill Yami? What had he done that Mai thought it was necessary for him to die? Yugi exhaled again and then from the corner of his eyes gazed at Yami. For some reason, Yami just seemed…so familiar…

Yami seemed distracted. He wondered what was wrong with the other boy. At least Yami wasn't going through everything that he was right now. Yugi couldn't have been more wrong. Yami felt like his emotions were eating him from the inside out.

Every time Yami thought about the kiss that he and Violet shared, he would feel his stomach turn. This wasn't supposed to happen. Yami was not supposed to fall in love with Violet…and what about Yugi? What were his feelings towards the smaller boy? Certainly, he couldn't love two people at once. Even though…Yugi had reminded him of Violet so much. Both of their skin was a creamy color and he would bet anything that Yugi's lips were as soft as Violet's. But they were also different in so many ways. Violet was authoritive and thrived dominance while Yugi was overly submissive and as sweet as an angel. If only he could combine the two…If only he was a normal teen…then he could fall in love with whomever he pleased.

But he could never be with either Violet or Yugi. They were both targets…and that's all they could ever be.

Yami looked down as he caught a glimpse of Yugi's bandaged hand. "What happened?" Yami asked curiously. Yugi flushed a light pink.

"Oh it's nothing…I was cutting some carrots last night and I accidently cut my hand," Yugi lied. Yami nodded and then winced out in pain when someone put their hand on his shoulder.

"Hello Yami," Jou said obviously feigning friendliness. Yami glared at the hand on his shoulder. The blonde was causing him an extreme amount of unwanted pain due to the fact that his bullet wound from the previous night was still healing.

"Hello Katsuya," Yami spat out. "Can I help you with something?"

Jou shook his head. "No, I was just checking to make sure that you weren't trying to seduce my pal here."

Yugi went a bright red. "Jou! I'm fine! Please stop!"

Jou frowned but nevertheless nodded. "Okay but don't think I'm not watching you. I know you and your friends are up to something!" Jou said releasing his hold ion Yami's shoulder and walking away.

Yami growled angrily: "Your friend is paranoid."

Yugi nodded. "I know but he's still my best friend," and then added suspiciously: "Is something wrong with your shoulder?"

Yami shook his head and just answered a stern: "No."

Yugi found Yami's behavior quite interesting…was there something wrong with the older boy? Yugi would have to make it his mission to find out what…

…TBC…

Yuri: So, I'm not going to yell at you guys again, I jus hope you guys keep reviewing so that I can be very very happy! Now I will be updating Disturbia and Closer so I'll see you guys in a few days. Also, you all know by now but yes Violet is Yugi because of his eyes and Lab is Jou (hehe like a labordor retriever). And Silver and Bronze are Ryou and Malik for reasons that should be obvious. Black is just a random name I thought of for Marik. And all of the assassins slightly change their voice when going uncover so I don't want any reviews saying "Well don't they recognize each others voices?" Though they are similar, they all purposely make themselves sound slightly different kk? Don't think too much into it. I also added a new section after my chapters where I respond to my reviewers! Love you all! REVIEW NOW!!

Response to the Reviewers:

SRRH: Great guess though! Keep reviewing please!

VenusofHecate: Thanks for taking the time to review even though you were in a rush. I luff you too!!

The Danvers Girls: Congrats!! You were so close! Keep reviewing!

dr-fan/mai-lover: Don't worry there'll be more Mai!

SilverDragon-Purity: You're just awesome! You know it, I know it!

Ashy-Hikari: No worries! There will be plenty of fluff!!

Griffin Alchemist: It'll thicken even more! Thanks for reviewing!

Taryn: I'm so happy you reviewed! Thanks for taking the time and reading my stories! Keep reviewing please!

Girlwholiketosmile: Yup! You guessed it! Great job! Thanks for reviewing! Don't stop!

ONIX-21: Thanks for reviewing so much! Love ya!

MyDarkAibou: Great guess! Thanks for all the reviews! Hope to see you this chapter!

Mckenzie Mead: Yes, I'm so happy that you reviewed thanks so much!

Sol Y Luna: Thank you! I hope you keep reviewing!

Now everyone else go REVIEW NOW!! See you next time!


	7. Revelations

Yuri: Here you go guys! Sorry it took a little longer than expected but this is a pretty long chapter! Anyways enjoy!

...Revelations...

FLASHBACK

"You let the top four members of the YIB get away! Our number one priorities!? What were you thinking?" Mai yelled as she paced around the large conference room. Every time she reached a side of the room, she would throw a knife towards the group of boys who were sitting at the surrounding tables; each of them ducking every few seconds or so. The only one who had remained completely still was Violet who had almost suffered a blow to the neck due to his insistence on not moving an inch. "Why didn't you take them out!?" the blonde yelled again this time throwing a knife in Lab's direction.

"Where the fuck is she getting them all from!?" Lab gasped as he pushed himself back against his chair just in time to see the small blade fly right by him.

Silver and Bronze only shrugged as they attempted to protect themselves from the outraged woman as well. Violet did not hear Lab's words or Mai's screams. All he could do was think about_ him_. About what had happened back in that warehouse. About what _could_ have happened.

'He didn't kill me…' Violet said to himself. 'He didn't kill me...and he could of. Instead, he kissed me.' Violet unconsciously raised his fingers to his lips and smiled. That smile, however, quickly turned to a frown when he realized who he was talking about. Atemu and him were sworn enemies from rival companies. The only way this could end was with either one or both of them dead. He was supposed to kill Atemu, he was supposed to hate him but instead...he was falling for him while at the same time falling for his handsome red eyed target.

"Violet?! Are you even listening to me?" Violet heard and looked up to meet flaring purple eyes. "Atemu has been your number one target for months now! Months! Why is he still alive then!? Please tell me that. Why haven't you been able to eliminate him?!

Violet didn't respond and settled for glaring death at the woman hovering over him with such intensity that the room felt as if it was beginning to melt. The glare cooled down Mai's anger which was apparent when she exhaled a long sigh and ran her fingers through her golden blonde hair.

"I'm starting to think," Mai said slowly and seriously, "that you can't handle this anymore."

Violet immediately stood to his feet knocking over the chair underneath him in the process. With both hands rested firmly against the table, Violet said angrily: "I don't have to take this!" The tri-colored hair youth stomped of towards the door and opened it.

"Violet," Mai's warning tone reached his ears making him stop but not turn around to face the blonde. "Don't forget who you are. You are Violet Iguy. The number one assassin in the HIB, and you have made an oath that you would let nothing get in your way from bringing criminals to justice. That is what HIB stands for! We kill murderers so that they won't hurt innocent people. You've vowed to do your job ever since your family was murdered. You know better then most how ruthless Atemu has been! He's the most wanted man in the world for the crimes he's committed Violet! He needs to be eliminated and I will not say it again!" Mai said so harshly that the other boys in the room flinched. With another drawn out sigh, Mai said as she slowly took a seat: "Don't let your feelings get in the way of your mission. One way or another, one of you are going to be eliminated. You chose which one."

The next sound was that of a door slamming shut and Mai watched the door where Violet exited with tired eyes.

"That was uncalled for Mai!" Lab shouted furiously. "Bringing up his family like that! That's low," the blonde boy spat as he also walked out of the room. Silver and Bronze stared after their friends while cursing the two for leaving them to deal with an extremely red-faced Mai.

...

Violet walked over to the round table in the middle of the room and fumbled through a few pages before finally finding his yellow folder with the picture of the boy who had taken his heart. At least he hoped he was the one and not Atemu.

"Violet..." a low voice said softly. The said boy didn't respond and instead kept his gaze on the picture below him.

"Yugi," Lab tried again addressing the smaller by his real name.

"I can't do this," Yugi whispered. "Jou, I don't care what happens but I will not touch Yami. What did he do anyways?"

Lab, or Jou, was slightly startled by the remark. Yami? What did he have to do with this? "What do you mean?" Jou asked curiously. Yugi sighed and then showed his longtime friend the picture in his hands.

"He's my new target," Yugi said sadly. Jou's eyes went wide with shock.

"Ha! I knew it! I knew he was-"

Jou stopped abruptly when he noticed the harsh glare Yugi was giving him. "Sorry Yug'," Jou apologized quickly and let his gaze falter down to the document on the table. "But it couldn't have been for nothing. All of our targets have done something horrible for Mai to send us after them. He must have-"

"Yami would never do anything like that. You don't know him like I do! He's sweet and kind and charming-"

"What about Atemu?" Jou interrupted. Yugi was confusing him now. Who was it that Yugi loved? Atemu or Yami?

"What about him?" Yugi said with a weary tone.

"Well, I have to admit that I am quite surprised that the top two assassins in the freakin planet can't kill each other. Are you sure that-"

"I don't care about Atemu!?" Yugi lied. "I care about Yami!"

Now that wasn't a lie.

"Okay Yug'," Jou said quickly fearing that he would lose his head any second now. "Just be careful," was the last thing Jou said before Bronze and Silver walked in with pissed off faces.

END OF FLASHBACK

Yugi rubbed his temples while the memories from the prior night vanished. What a stressful night it was! And today wasn't any better. Yugi had only seen Yami once the entire day and the older seemed like he was in a foul mood as well. He hoped that the others were having a better day then he was.

...

Yami was thinking. Thinking of what he should do. It was down to two things. Either he stay loyal to the YIB and complete his mission or...he stay loyal to his heart. Decisions...decisions...

Yami sighed as he looked at the clock above his head. It read 11:38 am.

Well, this was going to take a while.

...

Jou's blonde hair danced playfully around his face as his breath escaped in and out of his mouth steadily. He was extremely pissed when he sensed someone hovering next to him and had to struggle to open one eye. To his dismay, his new target was watching him with an amused look.

"Long night?" Kaiba mused as he took a seat. Jou didn't retaliate and instead just shook his head up and down.

"As did I so I'm glad that you're going to be tired so that I don't have to deal with your bullshit today," Kaiba said opening up his laptop.

The blonde glared at the other. "Whatever Kaiba," Jou scoffed. The honey-eyed boy watched as Kaiba's fingers started moving on the small keys and smiled when he noticed the look on the cold face.

"You look funny when you concentrate," Jou said keeping his sleepy eyes on the brunet.

Kaiba didn't even turn to look at Jou when he replied: "And you look funny all the time."

The dark glare returned to Jou's features but before he could say anything, a shrilly voice called out to him from across the room. "Katsuya!"

Jou flinched as he looked to see one of the cheerleaders of the school walking towards him from the other side of the classroom. "Oh, hiya Miho. How are you doing?" Jou said through clenched teeth. Honestly, he didn't want to be bothered right now but he didn't want to be rude either.

The girl named Miho smiled brightly and completely ignored the glare that she was getting from Kaiba. "Fine. I was wondering if you were free tonight!" Miho said with a small blush. Jou sighed inwardly but nevertheless gave a apologetic smile and said: "Sorry but I'm busy tonight."

"Oh please! I mean it would only be for like an hour or two!" the girl pleaded and by the look on Kaiba's face she was about to be assassinated.

Jou slightly frowned and then turned to Kaiba and gave him a look that clearly said: 'Help me.'

Kaiba rolled his eyes impatiently but decided that he would help the pleading blonde who looked so much like a begging puppy. Just this once though.

"Jou cannot go out with you tonight or any night for that matter," Kaiba said coldly.

Miho glared at the brunet angrily. "And why not!" she hissed.

"Because," Kaiba said cupping Jou's face and placing a small kiss on the blonde's lips. "He's taken," the blue-eyed boy said with a smug smirk. The shocked look on Miho's face was priceless, but so was the look on Jou's face. Within a second, Miho had ran away with her hands clasped over her embarassed red cheeks. Once out of sight, Kaiba wiped his mouth with his sleeve while giving a sound of disgust.

"You so owe me!" Kaiba growled.

Until that moment, Jou's jaw had been hanging open with eyes as wide as the moon. After a few attempts at speech, Jou just managed to say: "Ah ya. Thanks."

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Don't mention it. Ever again. Or I'll kill you."

Jou nodded but he didn't realize how serious Kaiba actually was.

...

"Pissy today aren't we?" Marik said amusingly as he watched Malik bite another person's head off for no reason in particular.

"Rough night," was all Malik said as he took his seat once again. Marik had to admit, Malik was quite amusing when he was mad.

"Anything I can do to help?" Marik offered, hoping to stay on Malik's good side today. He had seen what had happened when Malik was in a bad mood.

"Yeah, go over there and put a bullet in Jou's head," Malik scoffed, glaring at the said blonde from across the room. There was no way in hell that Malik was going to forgive Jou and Yugi for what they had made him and Ryou go through last night.

"Why?" Marik asked, slightly interested.

Malik only shrugged. "No reason."

Malik glared at Jou when the said blonde threw an eraser at his head. He had obviously overheard what Malik had said.

"Well," Marik said before a fight broke out and also, he needed to get a start on his mission. He still needed Malik to show him where his Millenium item was. "We need to get started on our project-"

The Egyptian was interrupted by Malik's groan as the smaller of the two buried his head into his hands. Marik smiled and said slowly: "Or...we could go reek havoc on the entire city."

Malik turned to look at the other with a huge grin. "Now that sounds fun."

"Tonight at around eight then?" Marik inquired.

Malik nodded. "Wouldn't miss it."

The lilac-eyed boy turned just in time to see Jou's lips lock with Kaiba's and fell out of his chair in shock and surprise much to Marik's amusement. At least, it was until Marik looked to see what startled Malik so much and then copied Malik's actions completely.

...

"Bakura, what happened?" Ryou said looking over the boy's wound on his arm in the Nurse's office. After Ryou had seen the wound, he had forced Bakura to go to the Nurse and was currently taking off an old bandage.

"It's Marik's fault!" Bakura growled trying to push the other away.

"Hold still! It's never going to get better if you don't stop fidgeting!" Ryou said with so much force and intensity that Bakura immediately came to a halt and eyed the other suspiciously.

"I swear, you're bloody bipolar," Bakura scoffed.

'And I swear you're bloody retarded,' was what Ryou wanted to say but instead settled for: "Just let me take care of it. I don't want it to get infected."

Bakura sighed impatiently but nevertheless let the smaller boy have his way. He rolled his eyes when he heard a loud gasp escape Ryou's lips. Bakura assumed that Ryou had gasped because of how ugly the wound looked but little did he know that that was no where near the reason why Ryou was so shocked.

"How did you say Marik did this?" Ryou asked again with sad eyes. That was weird. 'Why was Ryou sad?' Bakura said to hiimself. 'Bipolar little devil.'

"We were playing around and he cut me with a knife by mistake," Bakura said nonchalantly. Ryou's eyes narrowed at the response.

"Where were you last night?" Ryou said in a tone that didn't fit his character at all.

'What is this 21 questions or something?' Bakura said to himself and aloud said impatiently: "Why?"

"Just answer the question," Ryou said louder then he should have.

Bakura grabbed Ryou by the collar of his shirt and pulled the boy close to his face. With a deadly voice, Bakura said: "You have no idea who you are dealing with. I would stop with the questions if I were you."

The older pushed Ryou away before standing up and walking out of the room. Ryou stared after the boy with a forlorn expression. After a few minutes, the brown-eyed boy sighed and made up his mind. He wasn't dumb. All the signs were there... and he had to tell Yugi.

...

The end of the school day came and Yugi was placing his book in his locker which still had the small dent in it. He closed his locker slowly and to his surprise Yami was right next to him leaning against the locker beside him with his arms crossed and gaze towards the ground.

"Let me walk you home," Yami said. It wasn't a request. And Yugi realized that to be true when Yami took his hand in his and walked out of the school building. As much as Yugi loved the fact of holding hands with the boy he had fallen for, he was much to worried about his mission to even enjoy the silence that the two walked in. Yugi's house came appeared sooner then he expected it to and Yugi was extremely disappointed that Yami and him could not spend more time together. Approaching his front door and turning the handle, Yugi turned around to say something to Yami only to have warm lips smash against his own. The kiss was short but has a overwhelming sense of want and need in it and as soon as Yugi started to revive from his apparent shock, Yami pulled away and stared down at the ground below them with disappointed eyes.

Yugi was at a complete lost for words. He didn't know what to do or what just happened. All he knew was that the man of his dreams had just graced his lips with his own and now that same man was standing in front of him with a blank stare.

"D-do you w-want to come in?" Yugi said still flustered. Yami gazed back up into Yugi's royal amythest eyes and nodded before saying simply: "Okay."

Yugi walked into his house and slowly put away his bag and jacket. He let Yami follow his upstairs to his room and opened the door for the other before stepping in himself.

"It's nice. Homey," Yami said awkwardly. Yugi nodded and looked down at his hands shyly. What was he supposed to do? The atmosphere was so tense. Did he talk? Or should he tell Yami to leave? No. Maybe he should...

"Hey did you want to see something cool?" Yugi said with a small smile. Yami nodded and watched curiously as Yugi dug into his dresser throwing clothes to the ground in the process. Yami gasped when Yugi pulled out a large golden pyramid. Yugi motioned for the taller to sit on the ground and the other complied. Crossing his legs, Yami reached out for the item and Yugi placed it delicately in his hands.

"It's beautiful," Yami said in amazement. Yugi giggled at the other's expression and with a small smile said: "If you really liked it then I could let you borrow it for a day or two." Yami stared at the boy with wide eyes.

"Really?" Yami asked incredulously. This was it! This was the item that he had been after for days!

Yugi smiled brightly and with a small nod said: "Yeah, I trust you."

Yami's gaze immediately faltered. A sudden wave of emotion filled the assassin's once empty heart and with a loud sigh, Yami shook his head and shoved the golden pyramid back into the smaller boy's hands. "No. Take it."

Yugi looked confused. "You sure?" he offered again.

Yami nodded and then, without any warning, gently leaned forward and claimed Yugi's lips once again. He proceeded to lightly push Yugi to the ground and crawl on top of him with their lips still locked in a passionate kiss. Unconsciously, Yugi wrapped his arms around Yami's neck and pulled him deeper into the kiss. Yami responded by letting his hand begin to trail up Yugi's side making the smaller boy shiver at the contact. Yugi couldn't even think straight at this point. The kiss was so intoxicating…so addicting…and so familiar.

Realization hit Yugi like a ton of bricks and the smaller boy gasped out in surprise as he squirmed out of Yami's grasp and backed up into the corner nearby.

"A-Atemu?" Yugi said quietly with obvious hurt in his voice. Yami didn't move at all and continued to stare at the ground below him where his little love was only moments ago. After a few minutes, Yami sat down and said slowly but surely: "Yes Violet?"

Yugi's breath hitched in his throat. He couldn't breathe. "You knew?" Yugi said with pain radiating off of his exquisite eyes. Yami shook his head in response. "No--"

"You liar!" Yugi yelled startling Yami a little.

"I didn't!" Yami promised quickly. "I didn't know until earlier today when we kissed outside," he said slowly.

Yugi's heart was beating so loudly that he was sure Yami could hear it. "No! Why? Why does it have to be this way," Yugi cried cursing life for being so cruel to him.

"It doesn't," Yami said suddenly. Yugi looked at Yami with evident shock at the words.

"What do you mean?" Yugi whispered slowly.

"What I mean," Yami said carefully crawling over to Yugi and taking the smaller boy in his arms and was glad when Yugi didn't struggle. "Is that, we can start over."

Yugi shook his head. "But we are-"

"Yugi," Yami said cupping the boy's face, forcing the other to look him straight in his eyes. Yami took a deep breath and thought carefully about what he was about to say. But why prolong it? It was inevitable and Yami knew that. With a small smile, Yami said honestly: "I am willing to give up everything to be with you. I don't care about the YIB. I want to be with you. I love you."

Yugi's eyes went wide at the confession and he felt his eyes begin to water. "You really mean that Yami?" Yugi asked disbelievingly.

Yami's smile widened. "I do," he said as he placed a small kiss on Yugi's soft lips.

Yugi let Yami's arms wrap around his waist protectively and leaned further to deepen the kiss. "I love you too," Yugi murmured into the kiss. He smiled brightly when he felt Yami's arms tighten around his figure and after a few more seconds, the two parted slowly.

Yugi let his fingers caress Yami's cheek and the other purred at the touch which made the smaller giggle. "You know," Yugi said seriously, "If we don't eliminate each other, then both of our companies will be after us."

Yami nodded. "I know. That is something that we will think about later. We cannot let the others know that we found out about each other. I can assume that Jou, Ryou, and Malik are HIB operatives as well?" Yami said and watched as his little one nodded. "It's better if we keep our discovery secret until we have figured out what to do." Yugi nodded in agreement. He didn't need Yami to tell him that Kaiba and the others were with the YIB as well. It slightly humored him that eight assassins could be so oblivious.

Yugi smiled up at his new love and then with an flushed cheeks, he scratched the back of his head and said quietly: "Oh Yami, about the whole shooting-you-in-the-shoulder-thing, umm...I'm really sorry about that."

Yami laughed loudly. "All is forgiven, little one. I mean, remember the time I put a bomb in your car," the older said and then winced mentally at the look Yugi was giving him.

"That was you!" Yugi yelled.

"You didn't know? Ah nevermind then," Yami said but knew that he wasn't getting out of this one. "Oh come on, it was just a tiny bomb," Yami said and suppressed the urge to chuckle at the glare that he was getting. Eventually Yugi sighed and said: "Well I guess we have both tried to kill each other numerous amounts of time."

"Yes but that was all when we first got assigned to each other. After a few weeks, I realized that I couldn't go through with it so I just put a bomb here and there and threw a few stray knifes to keep up appearances," Yami said.

"Same," Yugi replied. "But that's okay because if you can forgive me for the whole 'knife incident' then I can surely forgive you."

Yami chuckled. "Oh yeah, I still have the scar from that 'incident'," Yami said with the help of air quotes. Yugi laughed softly and Yami smiled at the angelic noise before saying: "So my little assassin. I want you...to talk to me," Yami said and smiled when Yugi tilted his head in confusion.

"I want to know who you are. And what you like. If I plan to spend the rest of my life with you, then I want to know everything about you," Yami explained holding onto Yugi like the amethyst-eyed boy was all he had in the world.

"Everything?" Yugi asked and then giggled when Yami brushed their noses together.

"Everything."

...TBC...

Yuri: PLEASE REVIEW!! I'll see you guys next week! Love you guys! See you next time!


	8. Gun Point

Yuri: OMG! I am so sorry! I didn't mean for it to take so long for me to update! Bad authoress! Bad! Anyways I made this chapter extra lovey-dovey for you guys as an apology! I hope you enjoy it!

…Gun Point…

The sound of laughter rang throughout the room making the atmosphere light and breathtakingly refreshing. Lying down horizontally on the bed so that his head was hanging off and his feet were dangling on the other side, Yugi tried to contain his giggles. Yami, who was sitting on the ground while leaning his back against the bed, struggled to conceal his laughter as well. Yugi was slightly dizzy since his blood was rushing to his head due to the position he was in but he really didn't mind. The amethyst-eyed teen turned his head to the side and smiled at Yami.

"So, you're telling me that the entire Domino blackout was because you tripped over the wires in the power plant?" Yugi inquired with a small giggle.

Yami nodded his head shamelessly. "Kaiba was so angry with me! He didn't let it go for almost a month!"

Yugi released a fit of chuckles but suddenly stopped and blushed when he felt Yami's hand caress his face softly. "You are so beautiful," Yami whispered and the light pink blush on Yugi's face turned into a deep rose red. Yugi didn't know how, but in a second flat, Yami had repositioned him on the bed so that he was now lying vertically. The next thing he knew, Yami was lying on top of him, their foreheads pressed together lightly. "Yugi, my love, you have no idea how badly I long for you. Since the first time I laid eyes on you, I wanted to make you mine," Yami said and Yugi shivered at the seductive breath that brushed against his skin tenderly.

"Yami, I—" Yugi tried but was stopped by the pleasurable sensation that coursed throughout his body when Yami lightly traced his fingers up and down Yugi's side. The touch was so soft.

"Yugi, please…I want to love you. Let me show you the true meaning of pleasure," Yami whispered hotly and Yugi could feel all the blood that was previously in his head rush downwards. Gods, he wanted Yami so bad. But…he had never done this before. Hell, he had barely done more than kiss somebody. But something had told him that this was right. That this was meant to be. And besides…if he was to ever have a first, he would want it to be Yami.

Yugi looked up deep into Yami's crimson eyes and saw nothing but eternal devotion and untouchable loyalty. In that moment, he knew…

"Alright," Yugi said softly and Yami smiled down genuinely at him. Never in his life had Yami wanted and loved somebody so much. He wanted to be by Yugi's side forever and that was why he had no problem surrendering his safety just to be in his little one's arms. It had taken them both a while to realize the truth but, in the end, nothing was more important, then this moment right here.

Placing small, feathery kisses down Yugi's neck, Yami memorized every angle and every curve of the amethyst-eyed teen's neck with his lips. He enjoyed the way Yugi moved his head back, allowing him better access to his beautiful form. Slowly, Yami traced his kisses and had found Yugi's own lips and passionately claimed them as his own. Yugi loved the feeling of sweet taste on his lips and immediately allowed the other entrance to increase the sensuality of the kiss. Yugi moaned as Yami explored the crevices of his mouth with his tongue with expertise.

…

Jou looked up from his thinking to see Yugi's house and released a deep sigh. He needed someone to talk to about the events earlier today. He didn't know why but when Kaiba's lips connected with his own…well, something inside of him came alive. And he hated it. He was hoping that Yugi could talk to him about his current predicament but a feeling of dread filled his stomach when he glanced over beside him and saw familiar blue eyes.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jou inquired while arching an eyebrow. "You aren't following me, are you?"

Kaiba laughed as he walked up to the front door of Yugi's house where Jou was now currently standing. "Don't flatter yourself. I'm actually here because I am looking for Yami. The last time I checked, he was coming here."

"What!?" Jou cried almost falling off the stairs. In an instant, Jou broke the door open and sprinted towards the stairs. "For you and your friend's sake, Yugi better be okay!" the blonde threatened and Kaiba only sighed in annoyance as he followed the idiot up the stairs.

Slamming Yugi's door open, Jou walked in right on time to see Yami's tongue slide out of Yugi's mouth.

"He looks perfectly okay to me," Kaiba scoffed as he came to stand next to the fuming blonde.

"Jou!" Yugi yelled in surprise and quickly tried to stand to his feet only for the fact that Yami's body was weighing him down. "This isn't what it looks like!" Yugi attempted with a dark blush as he tried to push Yami off of him but the stubborn assassin wouldn't move.

"You mean you weren't having a full make-out session with Yami and you weren't allowing him to sexually molest you!?" Jou fired back angrily.

"Oh, then it is exactly what it looks like," Yami said with a slight smirk and Yugi glared at him.

Jou's face boiled with anger at the remark and he would have made his way to the crimson-eyed youth if Kaiba didn't stop him. Yugi took this opportunity to shove Yami off of him and the older rolled his eyes in frustration. "The next time you barge into someone else's room, could you please have the decency to knock first?" Yami said, extremely pissed that his moment with Yugi had been completely destroyed.

Jou yanked his arm away from Kaiba's grasp and growled out: "That's it! I've had it with you! I swear if I ever see you touch Yugi again, I will—"

"Jou, please! Stop treating me like this! Yami wasn't forcing me to do anything I didn't want to!" Yugi said defensively, standing in between the two teens. Jou's temper immediately cooled but then raised again as he got the gist of what Yugi was saying. "Wait…are you telling me that you were going to have SEX with him?!"

Yugi's cheeks felt as if they were on fire and he looked down at his feet in embarrassment. Luckily Yami came to his rescue. "If we were going to take our relationship to that level, then it would surely be none of your business. Yugi is perfectly capable of making his own decisions," Yami said wrapping his arms around Yugi's petite waist. Before Jou could respond with another fiery attack, the door of Yugi's room swung wide open and Malik and Marik came stumbling into the bedroom.

"Shit Marik! You couldn't even hold the door shut!" Malik screamed and Marik sent him a dark glare. "Well you're the one who wanted to eavesdrop in the first place, you should have held it shut!" Marik responded.

"Yeah, like you didn't want to right?" Malik shot back sarcastically and it wasn't until that moment that both Egyptians noticed that four pairs of eyes were lingering on them.

"Oh hey!" Malik said with a sheepish smile. "Don't mind us! Just, you know, hanging around."

"Outside my door?" Yugi replied with a small glare of his own.

Malik scratched the back of his head but didn't have time to respond as Ryou came running in.

"Yugi, I got to tell you something important!" the small Britain said quickly but stopped suddenly when he noticed Yami, Kaiba, and Marik along with the tense atmosphere around them. "…But, I'll just wait till later."

Yugi shook his head in frustration. "No, if it's important just tell me now."

"Yes, indeed, Ryou. Share with us what you know," said a dark voice and everyone turned to see Bakura at the doorway. Ryou looked absolutely dumbstruck for a moment but quickly regained his composure. "No, I'm good. It's not that important," Ryou said with a small smile even though inside he was shaking violently with fear.

The room suddenly got very quiet and, a moment later, yells and accusations were thrown in every direction.

"Stay. Away. From. Him." Jou threatened soundly.

"Or what?" Yami provoked.

_Shut up._

"What's going on?" Ryou questioned and yelped slightly when Bakura grabbed him by the wrist and turned him to face his dark brown eyes.

"What do you know?" Bakura hissed accusingly.

_Shut up._

"I can't believe you kissed him, Kaiba!" Marik said in awe.

"Who?" Yami inquired suspiciously.

"Jou!" Malik replied pointing a finger in the blonde's direction.

"How dare you come after me when you're guilty of the same act!?" Yami yelled angrily.

_Shut up._

"At least I am not trying to have sex with someone who looks like their twelve fucking years old!"

"WILL EVERYONE PLEASE SHUT THE FUCK UP!?"

In that moment, all the noise in the small bedroom came to a complete halt.

Wide eyes turned downwards to stare at the amethyst-eyed teen, who was, at this moment, stomping towards his bedroom door and ripping it open with such force and intensity that some were surprised that it did not come off its hinges.

"I want everyone out!" Yugi screamed in frustration and, for a mere second, nobody moved. "I said out! And I swear if I have to say it again, you will all regret it!

Jou, Ryou, and Malik visibly flinched, knowing full aware of what the other was capable of. The other three boys, excluding Yami, were not so much threatened by what Yugi could _physically_ do to them but were more concerned with angering the smaller teen further, thus angering Yami. And it was very unwise for anyone to piss the YIB operative off.

One by one, each teen walked out of Yugi's room and when the last one had left, that being Jou, Yugi shut the door lightly and took a deep breath. He really hated to be mean to his friends but god they were driving him crazy!

"I'm sorry little one. I did not mean to cause so much trouble," Yami said taking the boy in his arms. Of course when Yugi had said everyone, he had not meant Yami. He wanted Yami to stay with him and hold him…forever hopefully.

"It's okay Yami. Just please try not to provoke Jou. He's very dangerous when he wants to be," Yugi said snuggling up into Yami's warm embrace. The older nodded as he brought the two of them to Yugi's bed. He guessed he would have to wait to be Yugi's lover because it seemed as if the smaller wasn't up for it right now. But that was okay. Yami would wait for his little love.

Tucking in the blankets around them, Yami held Yugi against his firm body and they both rested peacefully in the warmth that their bodies radiated off.

"What do you think tomorrow will have in store for us?" Yugi said and chuckled softly when Yami's kissed him on the forehead.

"More hell than you can ever imagine," Yami said with a small smile, not even wanting to think about what he would hear when he got back to the YIB headquarters.

"Gee, thanks," Yugi said and hummed quietly when Yami gave him a light kiss.

"No problem," Yami said playfully and for the rest of the night, both assassins slept serenely, basking in each other's warmth, happy just to be in each other's presence.

…TBC…

Yuri: Aww I know you puzzleshippers liked that one! Yay! Badass Yugi! Anyways, once again I'm sorry! Even though I didn't get that many reviews last chapter so I didn't get the support that I needed to update quicker! -meaning you reading this right now should pwease review!- But I promise I'll update this story faster! I already started writing the next chapter. Please REVIEW!


	9. Stranger In My Bed

Yuri: WOAH! WOAH! HUGE WARNING THIS CHAPTER!

Yugi: Yes. This chapter contains Yaoi! That's boy on boy love! You have been warned! If you don't like then don't read!

Yami: -watches as small children run away- Enjoy everybody!

Yuri: And by the way, I have a new poll on my homepage! Please vote! :)

…Stranger In My Bed…

The sound of laughter rang throughout the streets as two shadowy figures walked slowly down the sidewalk. It was a beautiful night. Quiet but still slightly chilly. Malik had been grateful when Marik offered him his coat since his sleeveless shirt wasn't doing much for him.

"That was hilarious! Did you see his face when you drove away in his car? Priceless!" Malik chuckled, clearly amused by the other's antics.

"Not as funny as when you vandalized that police car and he chased you down the entire block. I thought you were a goner!" Marik mused humorously.

"I would have been if you didn't throw him off into thinking that you were me! Man, he thought he was losing his mind!" Malik said with a huge grin as he remembered that confused expression on the officer's face when he and Marik ran in opposite directions.

Marik smiled as well and quickly reached forward when Malik tripped over a small rock. Catching the boy in his arms, Marik smirked at the small blush on Malik's face.

"Thanks," Malik muttered, slightly embarrassed as Marik placed him back on his feet. He glanced to the side and realized that they were at his house. Turning back to the other youth, Malik sighed, sad that the night was over. "Well, this is my stop. I haven't had that much fun in years. Yugi always gets mad when I get into trouble."

Marik nodded and with a small smile said: "I know how you feel. Kaiba never lets any of us have any fun. Damn prick."

Malik chuckled at Marik's remark and then turned back to his house. He couldn't open the door though. Something was telling him not to. Part of him didn't want to leave Marik while the other half of him yelled at him for being so foolish. Marik was his target…but if that was all he was, then why did Malik always feel happy when he was around him? Why was it that Marik could always make him laugh or smile? How come every time he was around Marik, he felt complete?

Without thinking of the consequences, Malik scratched the back of his head nervously and glanced at Marik, who looked completely dazed at the moment, as if the older boy was trying to decide on whether to do something or not. Unsure of what exactly to say, Malik stuttered slowly: "Um, Marik…did you, ah wanna…I don't know…stay the—"

Malik words muffled into incoherent sentences the moment Marik had pressed his lips against his own in a bruising kiss. A huge red flag instantly went up in Malik's mind but he paid it no mind. He knew this was wrong, getting involved with a target and all, but at this moment, he didn't give a damn.

Wrapping one arm around Marik's neck to deepen the kiss, he used his other hand to fumble with the keys and unlock his door. The couple nearly fell on the floor when the door was pushed open and Marik immediately kicked the front door close with his front and pinned Malik against the wall.

Malik moaned into the kiss as Marik's hand traveled the length of his body. As the need for air became necessary, Marik parted from the smaller youth and anxiously ripped off his purple shirt, after which, Malik took Marik's shirt off by pulling it over his head. Both pairs of hands roamed the newly exposed skin freely.

Pulling the other into another passionate kiss, Malik let his hands rest on the buckle of Marik's belt before taking it off completely. It wasn't long before they made their way to Malik's bedroom and Marik roughly pushed the other back onto the blankets before positioning himself on top of him.

It wasn't long before both of them were completely stripped of their clothing and both of them were panting heavily in desire and lust. Malik instinctively reached over to his nightstand and pulled out a small bottle of lubrication. Marik took the hint and, kissing the other teasingly, took the bottle from the other and poured it onto his fingers on his right hand.

Positioning his fingers at Malik's entrance, Marik kissed the boy beneath him roughly and let one slick finger enter him. Malik squirmed at the odd feeling but Marik kept him still by pressing his other hand on his chest before letting another finger inside of the lavender-eyed assassin.

Malik winced at the sudden pressure inside of him but didn't move as much as Marik continued to flower him with reassuring kisses. After Malik adjusted to the weird feeling, Marik began to spread his two fingers in a scissor like motion and Malik couldn't help but yelp out in pain.

"Shhh," Marik hushed soothingly as he continued his assault on Malik's body. Biting his lips to keep from yelling out again, Malik let Marik slide in a third finger and this time it didn't hurt so bad. It actually felt good as Marik repeatedly pushed his fingers in and out of his entrance. Malik moaned as the movement sent lust-filled sensations down his spine. He frowned when the fingers left his body but screamed out as they were replaced by Marik's hard member.

The pain was horrible and it sent violent shocks throughout Malik's body as he was stretched beyond his imagination. Marik tightened his grasp around the blankets as he forced himself not to pound into Malik as hard as he could. He needed to let Malik adjust but the tightness that surrounded him was telling him otherwise. After a minute or two, Malik nodded his head, signaling Marik to continue.

Marik didn't need anymore persuasion as he slowly thrusted himself into the boy beneath him. At first, it hurt Malik to have the large member push in and out of him but after Marik had found his sweet spot, it was all over.

Malik yelled out in pure pleasure as Marik's thrusts became faster and every time Marik forced himself inside of him, he had managed to hit his spot over and over again. Malik felt the pleasure building inside of him and it was driving him near insanity.

"Faster…" Malik whispered huskily and Marik complied immediately as he pounded into Malik's smaller body repeatedly. Malik felt his eyes roll back in his head and his body shook with pleasurable sensations. In that moment, he couldn't hold back any longer and finally reaching his climax, Malik yelled out Marik's name and released his seed onto Marik's stomach.

Marik's senses went wild when he felt the boy beneath him climax, and hearing Malik scream his name, along with the intensity of his thrusts and the tightness of Malik's once virgin body, Marik released his seed deep inside Malik and immediately fell onto the body beneath him.

Both laid there motionless as they slowly began to regain their senses. They let their panting and heartbeats slow and after another minute or so, Marik rolled over onto the bed and pulled Malik to his chest. Malik sighed as he laid his head on Marik's chest and pulled the blankets over their naked bodies.

For a second, Malik had regretted what had happened. How could he betray his agency like this? He would get killed if they had found out about this. Marik was his target. That's all he was supposed to be.

Malik looked up when he felt eyes on his form and his eyes met with dark purple ones that held so much emotion that Malik couldn't even decipher it. But at the moment when he had looked up into those eyes that belonged to the man he had just given his innocence to, he knew.

He was in love. And there was nothing he could do about it.

Marik was at lost for words. He didn't know what to say to the boy who he had just made love to. What could he say? No words could describe what he was feeling right now. Hell, he didn't even know what he was feeling. That was until Malik looked up at him. When he saw that beautiful lavender, he realized something that shocked him.

He loved Malik. He loved him like none before.

And if anyone had a problem with it…then they could go to hell. Screw the YIB. He had what he wanted now and he was going to fight for it. Marik reached down and placed a soft kiss on Malik's lips.

"Goodnight Malik," Marik yawned as he pulled Malik closer to him.

"Goodnight Marik," Malik whispered, snuggling into the other's warmth. If only he could stay like this forever.

If only life was that easy…

…

"You know something and I want to know what!" Bakura yelled furiously as he paced Ryou's kitchen much to the latter's dismay. Bakura just had to follow him home, huh?

"I already told you, I don't know what you're talking about! Off your medication again are we?" Ryou responded in defiance and in a moment, Bakura had a knife up to Ryou's neck.

"Watch it, Ryou. Do not think that I'll let you talk to me like that. I am not one to be played with," Bakura threatened, removing the knife from Ryou's neck.

"That's for sure," Ryou muttered under his breath. He was so sick of Bakura's threats. Hell, he might not look like it but he wasn't someone to be played with either. Ryou looked up to see Bakura glaring at him and, at that moment, he snapped.

"Don't play dumb with me Bakura! I know you know what I know!" Ryou said angrily.

"What the fuck did you just say!?" Bakura spat angrily. But, no, really, what did he just say?

"You're so damn difficult Bakura!" Ryou snapped storming out of the kitchen into the dining room.

"Me? Well at least I'm not annoying!?" Bakura yelled following Ryou out of the kitchen.

Ryou turned on his heel and narrowed his eyes. "I'm not annoying!"

"I'm not annoying!" Bakura mimicked.

"Oh that's real mature! I swear, why ever the YIB hired you—"

Ryou immediately covered his mouth with his hand but it was already too late. Bakura smirked victoriously. "I knew it."

Walking up to the other, Bakura pushed Ryou back into a chair. "Talk."

"About what? I was ordered to kill you just like you were ordered to kill me!" Ryou explained.

"Why though? The HIB only kills those who have done some heinous crime in the past," Bakura said.

Ryou sighed in an annoyed fashion. "Um...hello! You're a blood-thirsty killer who murders people for money and power! You're the definition of what kind of people we kill."

"But that's the thing! I've never done anything as Bakura the student, only as Bakura the YIB operative. Wouldn't that mean that your leader would have to know that I was a member of YIB?"

Ryou's eyes widened in realization. No, it couldn't be. They couldn't have. Why would they do such a thing? "I never realized that…" Ryou said softly.

"We shouldn't be after each other," Bakura said logically.

"No we shouldn't," Ryou agreed.

"But this doesn't make us friends either," Bakura added.

Ryou scoffed. "I don't give a bloody damn."

"You and that mouth of yours! I swear—"

"You would have done it already," Ryou said and then a thought suddenly came to him. Bakura knew who he was but hadn't done anything about it. Why not? Ryou had known his reasons for not doing anything but surely Bakura couldn't feel the same way…could he? "Why haven't you? Why haven't you killed me already?" Ryou inquired curiously.

"Because," Bakura said darkly.

"Because why?" Ryou pried.

"Because I can't!" Bakura yelled and suddenly the whole room came to a complete halt. After a few moments, Ryou got up from the chair and reached out for Bakura's arm.

"Bakura…"

"Don't touch me!" the older yelled tearing Ryou's hand away from his arm.

Ryou eyes immediately brimmed with tears. "So what? You're just going to push me away?"

"Its better this way," Bakura assured.

"Better for who? For me? Or for you?" Ryou spat.

"Stop being so damn stubborn!" Bakura said angrily.

"You're the one being stubborn you baka!" Ryou cried.

"Ryou this isn't the time for this. We have to take care of business first."

"Then what Bakura? We never see each other again?" Ryou asked sadly.

There were a few moments of silence before Bakura responded. "Yes."

Ryou couldn't believe his ears. Anger along with sadness filled his heart. He had no control of what he said next. "Fine then. Fuck you too! I can't believe you! I love you and if that doesn't mean anything to you then I'm glad we'll never see each again!"

Ryou turned to leave before a hand snatched his arm and turned him back around. "Don't you dare walk out on me!" Bakura yelled.

"Try and stop me!" Ryou said, ripping his arm out of Bakura's grip.

"Ryou, I do love you but that doesn't change the situation we're in," Bakura said forcing the smaller youth to look at him. "So no matter what happens, I don't want you to come back for me! Do you understand me?"

Ryou glared at Bakura through tears but didn't respond.

"Do you understand?!" Bakura repeated dangerously.

"Okay!" Ryou said angrily, pushing Bakura off of him and running up the stairs. The next thing Bakura heard was a loud slam.

Bakura sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry Ryou but I can't let you get hurt. It's better this way."

…

Yami sighed when Marik's voicemail came on again. He had been trying to get in touch with him for the past twenty minutes and he was starting to become furious. Yami waited for the annoying beep that signaled for him to begin his message and once he heard it, he went off. "Marik, I don't know where the fuck you are but I swear if you're not dead, I'm going to kill you. We have an urgent mission and Pegasus wants us all to retrieve an item from a museum. Kaiba and I are already here but I can't get in touch with you or Bakura. I want a call as soon as you get this! Ra help you both when I get my hands on you two!"

Yami snapped the phone closed angrily and looked to his right. "Damn those two."

Kaiba nodded and watched as Yami exited the car. "You're not going to go in there yourself, are you?"

"I just want to get this over with. I'll be back soon," Yami said. "Did you disable the alarm?"

Kaiba nodded and Yami quickly disappeared into the museum. The brunet groaned as he set the car in park. Hopefully, Yami wouldn't get himself in trouble like he usually did.

…

Yugi sighed in defeat as he glanced over to see Jou shrugging his shoulders. "I can't get in touch with either of them. It looks like it's just going to be you and me tonight."

Yugi sighed again. "Mai was very insistent on all four of us being there."

Jou waved his hand. "She'll get over it. As long as we get the job done. I mean, all we have to do is steal a necklace. It doesn't take all four of us to do that. You and I will just split up so we can find it faster then we'll leave."

"Alright," Yugi agreed. He put on his hat followed by his sunglasses, then turned to Jou to see him doing the same thing.

"Be careful," Yugi warned.

"Aren't I always?" Jou mused and Yugi just rolled his eyes in response.

….

After disposing of two guards, Yami tiptoed through the large exhibit room quietly. He came to a stop when he reached a glass box that encircled what looked like a golden necklace. Taking out his tools, Yami carved a circle in the glass box and took out some mirrors that reflected the lasers surrounding the necklace. With a quick movement, Yami reached into the container and snatched the item up before throwing it into his pocket carefully.

"Well, that was easy," Yami said aloud as he began to exit the exhibit room.

"One more step and you die."

Yami froze the moment the barrel of a gun was pressed against the back of his head.

"I've been waiting to do this for a long time," the man behind him said with a smirk.

"Let's not do something stupid," Yami warned cautiously. He couldn't help but feel like he recognized the voice. "If you pull that trigger, you are signing your death wish."

"Shut the hell up! I can't wait to get rid off you, Atemu! Violet will be so much better off!

'Violet?' Yami thought with wide eyes. 'Yugi? He works with Yugi? Then does that mean that—oh my god, it's Jou!'

Yami opened his mouth. For a moment he was reconsidering telling Jou who he really was on the account that Jou would probably still shoot him anyways. He'd actually probably be happier to pull the trigger if he found out his real identity.

"I wouldn't do that it I were you," a deep voice spat from behind Jou and the blonde assassin yelped in surprise when he felt a gun placed against his head as well. Yami's eyes widened in fear as he recognized the voice to be Kaiba's. In that moment, a thought flashed through Yami's mind that drove the crimson-eyed assassin to absolute panic.

Oh god. Kaiba's going to shoot Jou.

"No, Dragon! Wait!" Yami shouted but it was already too late. The sound of a gun went off and rang painfully in the ears of the three occupants in the dark room. Everyone stood motionless, holding on to their breath in fear and apprehension as they all waited for the mind-numbing pain; no one sure if they were the one who had gotten shot.

…TBC…

Yuri: -sighs- Overkill on the cliffhangers huh? Sorry about that but it needed to be ended there. Anyways I know this chapter is a little confusing but I promise you guys will understand in the next chapter. Please Review! Pretty Please! See you guys soon!


	10. Discoveries

Yuri: So, hi everyone. I just came back from my trip to NH. It was pretty fun. But anyways, here's the next chapter! And I'm so excited that we'll be reaching 100 reviews! I love you all! Please Enjoy!

Anonymous Reviews Welcomed!

…Discoveries…

The only sound that could be heard was heavy breathing. No one wanted to move yet; all too consumed with fear. Yami forced himself to open one eye, and when nothing happened, he opened the other one. With a slow movement, Yami turned to the side and nearly fell over in shock. There, to the right of him, was a short youth, dressed in black, with a gun pointing to the ceiling. By the pull in his heart, Yami knew exactly who was hiding underneath all that clothes.

"V-Violet," Jou stuttered in shock. "What are you doing?"

Immediately, the shorter assassin repositioned his gun so that it was pointing towards the three of them. "Lab, drop the gun…you too Dragon."

Jou's eyes widened as he stared in his friend incredulously. Behind him, he heard a gun drop to the floor, signaling Dragon's surrender. Not knowing exactly what to say, Jou did the only thing that he could do. He dropped his gun as well.

Violet sighed in relief and lowered his gun. Slowly, he began to shed his clothes, including his gloves, jacket, and hat. The last thing that he took off was his glasses, revealing a beautiful shade of purple. "Violet! Have you lost your mind!?" Jou yelled, not noticing the surprised gasp from the one behind him.

"No, I haven't," Yugi said quietly. To the side of him, Atemu was undressing himself as well. If Jou wasn't shocked before, he definitely was now. "Y-Yami?" Jou stuttered in disbelief. Then with a sharp twist, Jou turned to face the only undercover assassin besides himself.

"And let me guess, you're Kaiba, right?" Jou scoffed, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Slowly, the hidden YIB operative removed his shades, revealing crystal blue eyes. "What the hell!" Kaiba shouted and Jou immediately ripped off his glasses and snatched the voice alternator out of his mouth, his normal voice now coming back.

"What the fuck is going on here!?" Jou yelled and Yugi quickly grabbed Jou's arm in an attempt to calm him down.

"Jou, let me explain," Yugi pleaded but just then Bakura and Ryou came stumbling into the room.

"We have to get out off here NOW!" Bakura demanded but the moment he spoke those words a large gate came out of the ceiling and split the room in half. "Shit!" Bakura yelled, slapping his forehead as hard as he could. He looked over at the exit which was of course on the other side of the bars.

"Bakura, what's going on?" Yami inquired, pulling Yugi into a protective embrace.

However, before the other could reply, a voice from the opposite side of the room interrupted him.

"Why couldn't you all just do your job?"

Yugi froze the second the feminine voice reached his ears. His eyes clashed with violet eyes and his breath caught in his throat. "M-Mai," Yugi said and then rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "What are you doing here? What's going on?"

Mai smiled before saying: "I'm actually here with a friend."

Yami looked to the side of her and gasped. "Pegasus!?"

"Good evening fellas!" he greeted in his normal, overly-friendly tone.

"What the hell is going on!?" Jou asked for about the third time

Bakura glared at the blond and replied: "We were all supposed to take each other out. That's why we were assigned to each other. We were supposed to kill each other."

"It would surely save Mai and me a lot of dirty work," Pegasus responded.

Yugi shook his head to keep it from spinning but it only made the throbbing pain worse. "But why?" he asked.

"Well, if you must know," Mai began. "Pegasus and I had a little problem. You see, there are these things called the Millennium items. I'm sure you all know what they are by now. Anyways, the thing is that if someone manages to get all seven of the items in one place, then that person is granted infinite power. Now, Pegasus here, he owns one of the Millennium items. The Eye. And I, well, I have the Key and the Scale. However, we're still missing four."

"And it just turns out," Pegasus continued. "That the top four HIB operatives owned the rest of these items. However, it's not like you four would just hand them over so—"

"You ordered us to steal them for you!" Yami yelled, his face fuming with unparalleled anger.

"Yes but, you see, Mai and I were worried that once you found out our plan, then you would try to stop us."

"And we really didn't want to be bothered," Mai said. "So why not just have you all kill each other and then no one would get in our way."

"However," Pegasus said with a roll of his eyes. "We never took into account that you would all fall in love."

"Hey!" Jou shouted out but Yugi quickly hushed him.

"So here we are. And now you all have to wait here as Pegasus and I go retrieve the rest off the items. When we return, well, let's just say that we will finish your jobs for you," Mai laughed as she began to walk away.

"Bye for now!" Pegasus said and then they both disappeared.

"Shit!" Yami said kicking the wall beside him.

"I can't believe this!" Jou screamed. "How come none of us saw this coming?"

Bakura raised his hand. "Um…for the record, I did."

"We have to split up," Kaiba said slowly and everyone stared at him in confusion. "Maybe, there's another way out of here," he explained.

"I highly doubt it," Bakura scoffed.

"Well, we won't know unless we try," Yami spat back and Bakura only shrugged in response.

"Alright, well, I still don't trust you guys," Jou said and then pointed to the door closest to him. "So, me, Ryou and Yugi are going to go this way."

"Ryou, Yugi, and I," Kaiba corrected.

"No! You're not going anywhere with my friends, you prick!" Jou yelled.

Yami and Bakura couldn't help but snicker at this while the rest of the assassins just proceeded to roll their eyes. "Alright, Jou, let's go," Yugi said pulling the blond out of the room before a fight erupted. Ryou followed close behind.

Once they left, the remaining three youths made their way to the opposite side of the room and exited the door. They scanned every room that they walked through in an attempt to find an exit but to no avail. After about six different rooms, Yami sighed and said: "I don't think we're going to get out of here. There aren't even windows in any of these rooms."

"Way to think positive, you ass," Bakura mused humorously.

Yami scowled at the comment. "I'm going to go back to the main room. See if the other's are there yet."

Kaiba just nodded and watched as Yami left the room. After a few minutes, the crimson-eyed assassin found his way back into the main room and looked around only to see that the others had still not returned. Yami began to walk to the opposite side off the room, hoping to find Yugi and the others. However, since he really wasn't watching where he was going, he accidentally slipped on a wet spot on the floor and banged his head against one of the glass cases. The world immediately went black and Yami fell to the ground in an unconscious heap.

Meanwhile, Yugi and the others were walking through the various rooms of the museum when the former felt a knot in his stomach twist uncomfortably. 'Yami?' Yugi said to himself worriedly before turning to the other too. "Guys, I'll be back. I'm going to go check up on the others."

Ryou nodded as Jou replied: "Alright, but hurry back."

Yugi agreed and quickly took off in the direction of the main room. Something in the pit of his stomach told him that Yami wasn't okay. He just hoped that he was wrong. However, the moment he stumbled into the main room, he saw his love lying unconsciously on the floor.

"Yami!" Yugi screamed before falling to his knees and beginning to search Yami's body for any visible stabbings or gun shot wounds. When nothing of that sort could be found, Yugi noticed a small cut going across the other's forehead and the skin around it was bruising fast. Yugi quickly ripped off a piece of his shirt and wiped the small amounts of blood off of his love's face. Unfortunately, he got some one his hands though.

At the moment, Bakura walked in and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the scene before him. There was Yami, on the floor, with Yugi beside him, the smaller's hands covered with blood. He noticed the tears coming out of Yugi's eyes and immediately feared the worse. Bakura quickly took out his phone and, after fumbling with the small buttons, he managed to call for help. The moment he heard the person on the other side pick up, Bakura shouted: "Kaiba, I think Yami's dead!"

"What!?" Kaiba snarled before running out of the room and heading back to the main room. "Okay, I'll be there in a second. But, first, before we panic, we have to make sure he's really dead first," Kaiba instructed carefully.

"Alright," The brown-eyed operative replied and the next thing that Kaiba heard was a sound of a gunshot, followed by a loud scream from what sounded like Yugi.

"Okay, now what?" Bakura inquired and was confused when he was answered with silence. Kaiba, who had completely fallen dead in his tracks, inhaled a deep breath before screaming out: "DID YOU JUST SHOOT HIM!?"

Bakura winced at the loud accusation. "You said to make sure he was dead first!"

Kaiba was about to reply when he heard a deep groan coming from the other side of the phone.

"You brainless, impulsive idiot! I swear, when I get up, you're dead!" Kaiba heard Yami scream and then Bakura's voice slowly came back on the phone. "Oh…nevermind..."

Kaiba sighed in relief. "Stay there," the brunet ordered while bringing a hand up to massage his temples.

"I don't really have a choice, now do I?" Bakura responded before hanging up the phone.

When Kaiba had found the room they were in, he saw Bakura leaning against the wall impatiently and Yugi, on the opposite side of the room, tending to a cut on Yami's arm. While Bakura was staring up at the ceiling in utter boredom, Yami had engaged in glaring at the white-haired youth as deadly as he possible could. When they had noticed his arrival, Bakura pushed himself off the wall. "What took you so long?"

Kaiba looked at Bakura as if he had gone mad. "I can't believe you shot him."

"It was only a little graze!" Bakura whined. "It barely even cut him!"

"You still shouldn't have done it!" Yugi shot back. "You could have really killed him."

"Exactly," Bakura replied and Yugi had to force Yami from standing up and pouncing on the other.

"I'm going to kill you!" Yami threatened dangerously but Bakura just waved him off. At that moment, Jou and Ryou walked in the room with the blond covering his ears in an annoyed fashion.

"Jesus tap-dancing Christ! What the fuck is going on?" Jou complained.

"Well, if you must know, Bakura shot Yami," Kaiba replied.

"You didn't?!" Ryou asked in shock and Bakura turned to look back up at the ceiling.

"It's his fault! He shouldn't have faked dead!" Bakura said with a small shrug.

"I'm going to have to fake an alibi when you go missing," Yami snapped angrily.

Yugi sighed before placing a soft kiss on Yami's lips. The latter instantly calmed down and smiled. "Can you please just ignore him until I finish taking care of your wound?"

"Will you kiss me more if I do?" Yami bargained and Yugi just laughed. After a few more minutes, Yugi had just finished patching up Yami's arm when something in his pocket started vibrating. He quickly took out his cell phone to see Malik calling.

"Malik!" Yugi cried happily. "You're okay!"

"Yes I'm fine, Yugi," Malik replied as he stood up from his bed making sure not to wake Marik in the process. "Sorry, I didn't pick up my phone. I was...busy. Is something wrong?" he inquired worriedly.

"I need you to get over to the library immediately! I'll explain everything when you get here! Just hurry. Oh, and bring Marik," Yugi responded.

Malik raised an eyebrow. "Marik? Why?"

"Because he's a member of the YIB along with the others and we need both of you to help--," Yugi began to explain but Malik didn't hear him.

The next thing Yugi realized, the line went dead.

"What happened? Is he coming?" Ryou asked curiously.

"I guess so," Yugi replied but then quickly ran past his white-haired friend when he noticed Yami stalking over to Bakura.

…

Malik let the phone slide out of his fingers and hit the floor. His entire body had lost feeling. He was completely numb. And the only thing he could hear was Yugi's last words. His stomach turned violently and he would have thrown up if a sudden voice didn't startle him, dragging him back into reality.

"Malik?" Marik called out as he propped himself up on his elbows. "Why are you out of bed, love?

A muffled cry escaped Malik's lips at Marik's choice of words. "Love?" Malik repeated with a strained voice. "Is that what last night was? Or was I just part of your mission?"

Marik raised an eyebrow curiously. "What are you talking about?"

With his back still turned from the other, Malik bent his head down in shame, making his bangs cast a dark shadow over his eyes. "How could I have been so stupid?"

At this point, Marik was more than just confused. After untangling his limbs from the blankets, Marik jumped out of the bed and reached out for the other. However, the sudden movement caused Malik to spin around and Marik came to an immediate halt when his smaller counterpart pulled out a knife.

"Malik, what in the world are you doing?" Marik asked in complete disbelief.

"Something I should have done a long time ago," Malik spat as he took one step closer to the other youth. "Tell me, Marik," he started. "How long have you been in the YIB?"

Marik's eyes widened in absolute shock. "How did you—"

"I'm going to ask the questions," Malik interrupted and then said: "What's your name?"

"What?" Marik asked, confusion written into the crevices of his face.

"Your name! Your undercover name!" Malik shouted angrily.

Marik looked at the ground and sighed. "…Black."

Malik instantly faltered the moment the word reached his ears. He quickly composed himself however.

"Malik, how do you know this?" Marik asked incredulously.

"Was I your target?" Malik asked completely ignoring the other's question. Marik didn't respond though. Instead, he just kept his eyes at a downcast. Malik felt rage and impatience bubble in his stomach. Or maybe it was that throwing up feeling again. He didn't know anymore. "Answer me!" Malik demanded.

Marik looked back up at the other. "Yes but—"

"Do you always fuck your targets?" Malik said abruptly, catching Marik off guard.

"No, I—"

"Why were you sent after me?" Malik questioned.

Marik just sighed. He knew that Malik wasn't going to let him explain himself just yet. So he decided that he might as well answer his questions. "I was ordered to steal a particular item of interest from you," Marik began. "A rod made out of pure gold. And then…I was supposed to kill you."

The moment the words let his lips, a terrible silence blew into the room and engulfed the two assassins. They just stared at each other. Both wondering what the other was going to say next. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, the sound of the knife that was in Malik's hand clattering on the ground was heard. Then Malik walked over to the corner of the room and opened his closet. He reached inside and pulled out a long, skinny rod with a ball on the top of it. The Egyptian eye on the front of it was illuminated by the beautiful gold shine that touched every curve and crevice of the magnificent item.

"You want it?" Malik said and then threw the rod so hard that if Marik didn't duck then he would surely be on the floor in excruciating pain right now. "Take it," Malik finished before taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "You've already taken something far more valuable…" he whispered almost to himself.

Marik looked at the item on the floor and then back up at Malik. "Listen to me, please," Marik began softly. "I'm not going to lie to you. I was sent after you, yes, but Malik, believe me when I say that tonight…tonight was real. All of it."

Carefully, Marik reached out for Malik's face and cupped the smaller's chin in his hand, forcing the other to look up in his eyes. "Malik, I love you. I don't want that item or anything else to do with the YIB. I only want you."

Malik gasped when Marik's lips met his in a bruising kiss. When the need for air became a necessity, Marik pulled away from the other and then sat on the bed beside him.

"I love you too," Malik whispered before leaning his head on Marik's shoulder. After a few comforting moments of silence, Malik said with a small smile: "You know, you were my target too."

Marik frowned in confusion. "Target? What do you mean?"

The smaller of the two sighed before announcing: "I work for the HIB."

A few more seconds of silence filled the room as Marik took this in. He finally understood why Malik acted the way he did. "And your name was?" Marik inquired.

"Bronze," was Malik's simple reply.

Marik's eyes doubled in size in a matter of seconds. "So you mean…"

Malik nodded. "Yeah, that time when you were in France, that was me who kicked your ass."

Marik laughed out loud at this. "I never forgot about that, you know," Marik said and then added slowly: "But you still never told me how you found out who I was."

"Well, Yugi called and—SHIT! YUGI!"

Malik jumped up from the bed and scurried over to his bureau before ripping the top drawer open. "We have to go," he said urgently as he tossed Marik some clothes.

"Where?" Marik asked with a puzzled expression.

"To the museum," Malik replied as he tried to put on his pants and shirt at the same time but failing considerably.

"Why?" Marik questioned, still confused.

Malik shot Marik a weary glance. With a completely serious tone, Malik said quietly: "I think everyone's in trouble."

That was all Malik had to say and Marik was immediately on his feet. In a matter of minutes, both of them were dressed and out of the house like ghosts in the night, side by side like lovers on the Nile.

…TBC…

Yuri: I hope this chapter was entertaining for you all! This story's got about two chapters left. Maybe three. I'll see you guys soon! Please review!

P.S. Thank you to all of you that voted in my previous poll. The results of that poll told me what stories my readers were interested in out of my upcoming stories and because of that a lot of people are happy with the two new stories I have published. I have another poll up now that I'm very interested in seeing the results. Please vote! I want to know your opinion. It means the world to me! Bye guys!


	11. The Showdown

Yuri: Hi GUYS! I missed you all! And can I just say congratulations to liric! She was the 100th reviewer! Thus winning the prize! YAY! Anyways, this is the second to last chapter! I know, I'm sad too. So, with nothing else to say, ENJOY!

…The Showdown…

Jou sat with his back against the wall, his arms crossed firmly over his chest. For the most part, he just kept his eyes to the ceiling, tossing the occasional glare to the brunet a few meters away. Yugi was still persuading Yami from killing Bakura while Ryou was reprimanding the other white-haired youth in the corner. Jou figured that it was about time to glare at Kaiba again but, when he looked up, ice blue eyes clashed with his amber ones.

"Are you going to keep doing that?" Kaiba snapped in an annoyed fashion.

"Doing what?" Jou countered with a glare.

"_That!"_ Kaiba scowled.

Jou stuck out his tongue at the other. "I'll do whatever I want!"

"Whatever," Kaiba rolled his eyes. "_Mutt."_

"What you say?!" Jou fired back, jumping to his feet.

"Would you two shut up, already?!"

Everyone turned at the new voice to see Malik and Marik on the opposite side of the gate. "You two are giving me a headache and I just got here," Marik continued, rubbing his temples.

"Malik!" Yugi rejoiced happily before scurrying over to the bars. "Do you still have your laser on you?"

"Yup," Malik replied with a smile. Reaching into his back pocket, Malik pulled out a small pen and uncapped the back of it to reveal a red laser beam.

"Where the hell did you get that from?" Yami asked, highly intrigued by the small object.

"I always make new equipment for the HIB. However, I have to test it out before releasing it to other agents. This is my latest creation," Malik replied while getting to work on the metal bars.

"Portable. Discreet. And deadly," Bakura thought aloud. "I like it."

Malik smirked at the other's comment as he watched the bars begin to come apart. After a few minutes, he had created a little doorway, which everyone was able to sneak through with ease with the exception of Jou and Kaiba who were slightly taller than everybody else.

"So, care to tell me what the hell is going on?" Malik inquired once everybody had gotten out.

Yugi quickly nodded. "Basically, Mai and Pegasus are evil and tried to have us kill each other so that they could steal our Millennium items which apparently have a special power when you combine them together and now they're hell-bent on taking over the world."

"Oh, is that all?" Marik questioned, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Malik, on the other hand, had fallen deep in thought before something bit him in the back of his mind. "They're going to our houses to take our items!? We have to hurry back to my house, I—"

"It's too late by now," Yami interrupted. Malik instantly turned on Yugi.

"Why didn't you tell me to bring it!?" he yelled.

Yugi frowned angrily. "I was going to but you never answered your phone after the first time I called!"

Malik tried to think back to earlier and smiled sheepishly when he remembered how his phone had snapped in two on the ground earlier that night. "Oh, sorry about that," he apologized quietly.

Yugi sighed but nodded nonetheless. "We have to go," he said beckoning for the others to follow him out of the museum which they did.

"Where are we going?" Yami asked Yugi while they all sprinted down the street.

"To the YIB," he replied.

The four YIB operatives stopped dead in their tracks. "What?" Yami said, thinking that he had heard wrong.

"That's where Mai and Pegasus are," Yugi explained as they continued to run, looking for any available cars on the nearby streets.

"And you know this how?" Yami questioned, keeping up with his smaller love with ease.

"Because if they already have all the items, which they probably do by now, then they're going to go to a place where no one will be suspicious of what they're doing. If Pegasus showed up at the HIB, there would be way too many questions. However, not many people know Mai or what she looks like. If she walked into the YIB, then the other operatives there would just assume that she was a new trainee. The thing with Pegasus is that he likes everyone to know who he is," Yugi said, watching as Marik and Bakura high-jacked two cars. He felt really bad for whoever owned these cars but he had to kind of save the world from whatever Mai and Pegasus were planning so hopefully the owners wouldn't mind too much.

Yami nodded. "That's a reasonable assumption."

"So, where'd you find Marik?" Jou asked Malik with an all-knowing grin as the group piled in to the two separate cars. Ryou rolled his eyes as he listened to Malik and Jou get into it, yet watching Yugi as the short HIB operative followed Yami and the others to the YIB headquarters.

…

Upon arrival at the YIB, the group decided that it was best if they all stayed together instead of split up. Before walking in, Malik handed out three communicators for Yugi, Jou, and Ryou to wrap around their wrist. It resembled a plain, black watch. Malik had one of his own on his wrist and said that it was just in case they got separated.

To Yami's surprise, the entire place was empty. Even the guards that usually sat outside of the main entrance were gone. Motioning for everyone to follow him, Yami led to an extremely large room, probably a quarter of the size of a football field. In the middle of the room were several long tables and about a dozen office chairs along with a few bookcases and lamps.

Using sign language, Yami instructed Kaiba, Bakura, and Marik to check the four rooms connected to the center, all which were cleared. "What is this place?" Yugi inquired curiously.

"This is the room that connects all of our bedrooms," Yami explained. "There's also a door that leads up to the top floor here. That's where we're going now."

The words had barely left Yami's mouth when a familiar voice swept over the room from the intercom in the corner. "Hello boys!" Pegasus' disgustingly sweet voice greeted. "As you can see, you all are alone right now. However, because Mai and I don't want you all ruining our plans, we decided to invite some company. See you later, boys…then again, maybe I won't.

The sound of a gun going off rippled through the air and Jou gasped when the brunet besides him crumpled to the ground. Suddenly, there was an onslaught of gunfire and Yami watched as about a hundred operatives flooded into the spacious room, smashing the glass windows to the ground as they crawled in.

"Everyone retreat!" Yami ordered, taking Yugi in his arms and disappearing behind a door with Bakura and Marik doing the same to their counterparts. Jou quickly helped Kaiba to his feet and followed in suit. Just before closing and locking the door to one of the unoccupied bedrooms, Jou saw all of the intruders' position themselves on the opposite side of the room, guns held high.

"Shit. Shit. Shit," Jou repeated over and over as he laid Kaiba down against a wall before tearing off the bottom of his shirt and tying it around Kaiba's shoulder which was bleeding profusely. "What are we going to do?" Jou said to himself and Kaiba couldn't help but smirk at the frantic boy who was trying to help him. "There's no way to escape," Jou muttered quietly.

Kaiba sighed. "Yami knows that. He didn't mean retreat as in try to run away. He meant that everyone prepare themselves. He knows we have to fight this one out," Kaiba explained and then, at Jou's bewildered expression, added softly: "You should get out of here while you can, Jou."

Jou shook his head angrily. "Like hell! I'm not going anywhere."

Kaiba chuckled tiredly. "You always were stubborn."

Jou laughed at the remark. "And you aren't?"

Kaiba only shrugged before pointing towards the bed. "There's a box of guns under my bed. And in my closet are a few bullet-proof vests. You might want to protect yourself as best you can."

Jou nodded and, following Kaiba's instructions, he was able to get ready in a matter of minutes. Tossing Kaiba a vest as well as two 9 millimeter caliber semi-automatics and a pair of back-ups, Jou proceeded to arm himself with similar weapons.

When they were both ready, they sat silently near the door waiting for further instruction.

"Kaiba," Jou said suddenly and the brunet turned so that their eyes were leveled with each other's. With a deep sigh, Jou ran his fingers through his hair and smiled. "There is no place in the world that I'd rather be than right here…with you."

For the first time since Jou had known Kaiba, the brunet smiled back. A genuine, one-of-a-kind smile. Just for him. Jou leaned in just far enough to capture the other's lips in a fleeting kiss.

"Good luck," Jou whispered as he positioned himself to make a good run for it once he opened the doors.

Kaiba shook his head and positioned himself as well. "I don't need luck," he replied before shooting the blond a quick glance. "I have you."

Jou's eyes softened at the rare display of Kaiba's affections. That's when Yugi's voice reached his ears from the small communicator wrapped around his wrist.

…

Since, Yami had brought Yugi into the room, he had yet to let go of him. Not that Yugi minded really but he didn't think it was the best time to cuddle. "Yami, we have to get ready. We can't stay in here forever," Yugi whined.

Without taking his face out off Yugi's soft hair, Yami whispered pleadingly: "Yugi, you have to get out of here."

Yugi frowned and immediately replied sternly: "I'm not leaving without you."

Letting go of Yugi, Yami distanced themselves from each other slightly. A gasp escaped Yugi's lips when Yami tilted his head up to meet his crimson eyes. Yami was…crying. But no, Yami was strong. He didn't cry. He couldn't.

"If you stay here, you'll die," Yami said slowly and bent down to embrace his little one in his arms. "And I can't lose you. Not after I just found you," he whispered into Yugi's ear.

Yugi brought his arms up to return the other's hug before burying his head into the crook of Yami's neck. "I can't lose you either, Yami. And that's why I have to stay here. I can't sit at home and wait for you to come home. I love you, Yami. And I will fight by your side. No matter what."

Yami smiled softly at his smaller love. In an instant, he crushed their lips together in a passionate yet tender kiss. "Yugi," Yami whispered into the kiss. "I love you."

Yugi returned Yami's smile and gave him one last peck on the lips before saying: "I love you too."

…

Ryou continued to examine all the guns that Bakura had dumped on the floor, picking out the ones he liked the best. Bakura, on the other hand, was sitting quietly to the right off him, silently reloading numerous amounts of pistols.

"So, this is what it comes down to?" Ryou asked suddenly staring down at the guns spread out in front of him.

"Yup," Bakura replied as he reloaded another gun.

"Eight versus about one hundred," Ryou nodded. "Sounds fair…"

"Yup," the other repeated, taking another gun in his hands and examining it carefully.

Ryou tilted his head to look at Bakura who seemed to be deep in concentration. "Are we going to die tonight?" he inquired with a small frown.

For the first time, Bakura looked up from his ministrations and stared into Ryou's soft chocolate eyes. "Nope," he answered.

Ryou blinked. "How can you be so sure?"

Bakura quickly jumped to his feet. "I'm not. But that's why I got you, now isn't it?" he said while walking over to the closet and pulling out a pair of vest that Ryou assumed were bullet-proof.

At the remark, Ryou tilted his head even more. "Why?"

"Because," Bakura replied simply. "You give me a reason for wanting to give it my all. Hopefully, that's enough."

Ryou smiled to himself, knowing that this was Bakura's way of telling him how much he cared about him. "Bakura?" Ryou called out gently.

"Hmm…" the other replied while placing the loaded guns in his waist.

"I think we'll be okay," Ryou whispered almost to himself but Bakura immediately caught the double meaning of Ryou's comment.

The YIB operative nodded. "As do I, Ryou. As do I."

…

"Don't you wish we stayed in bed?"

Malik chuckled sadly as he continued to buckle his vest on. As soon as he was done, he walked over to Marik who was having trouble strapping his on tight. "Part of me does," Malik replied softly. "The other half is happy that I'm fighting by my friend's side. And that, if I do die, then I die with you."

Marik smiled before placing a passionate kiss on Malik's soft lips. "Are you ready for the start of our new lives?" Malik asked, resting his head on Marik's chest.

Marik snorted. "Or the end of it."

An elbow met Marik's ribs. "Ow, I'm just kidding!" the taller laughed as he ruffled Malik's blond locks.

"You better be," Malik said with a playful frown but paused when he heard a familiar voice coming from his watch. "Hold on," he instructed Marik before bringing the piece of equipment to his lips.

"I'm here, Yugi," Malik replied and both of the Egyptian's listened carefully for a response.

…

"Jou?" Yugi spoke into the communicator softly.

"Right here, pal!" Jou replied enthusiastically.

"Ryou?" the amethyst-eyed assassin called out.

"Present!" Ryou responded, trying to sound as positive as possible.

"Malik?"

"I'm here, Yugi," Malik answered.

Yugi smiled, glad that his friends were still okay. "I know that our odds look slim right now," Yugi began.  
"But I also know that together, we can do this. We've been in situations like this before. And this time, it's the last time. After this, we can all start over," Yugi looked to Yami and smiled even more. "Together."

Yami kissed Yugi on the cheek before letting his little one continue. "Thank you guys," Yugi said, his voice cracking slightly. "You've been the best group of friends someone could ever have. And I just have one question for you all…Who's buying the ice cream after this is all over?"

Laughs and chuckles full of relief came over the communicator. Yugi's confidence did wonders for them.

Yami grabbed Yugi's wrist and asked with a serious note: "Ready, everyone?"

When words of affirmative were returned as a response to him, Yami took hold of Yugi's hand and gave it a small squeeze. Then, on the count of three, shouted: "GO!"

…

The smoke was so thick that he could barely see anybody. It was from all the gunfire. Not to mention he was death in his right hear from the amount of bullets that had gone off so far. Looking down to see if Yugi was still beside him, Yami rolled out from the table he was hiding behind and stood to his feet, a gun in each hand as he shot directly at the opposite side of the room, hitting a total of five men out of the twenty or thirty that remained. When he ran out of bullets, he turned around only to reveal Yugi that was holding a pair of guns in his hands as well. While Yami was reloading, Yugi kept the remaining enemies from coming out of their hiding spots by shooting repeatedly. When Yami had finished, he stood back up, and, Yugi and himself back to back, a gun in each hand, they managed to take out another six men.

"Yami!" someone called out and the crimson-eyed youth turned to see Kaiba and Jou beside them. "You guys need to go stop Mai and Pegasus!" Jou said taking out another gun and shooting a man on the opposite side of the room square in the head. "We can handle it from here!"

"But—" Yami started only to be tackled to the ground behind a chair as a wave of bullets flew by where his head use to be.

"Jou's right. We need to stop them before it's too late," Yugi said hurriedly and glanced off to the side where Bakura was tending to Ryou's wound hidden safely behind a long metal table. "And Ryou's getting worse. We need to get him help soon. I don't know how much longer he can last with that bullet in his leg," Yugi finished, worry consuming his expression.

"Shit!" Marik cursed and Yami looked off to the side to see a bullet graze the Egyptian's arm.

"Go now!" Malik yelled from a nearby hiding spot. "We'll cover for you!" he said, jumping to his feet and shooting a wave of bullets towards the opposite side of the room.

Yugi and Yami glanced at each other before nodding in unison. While Jou, Kaiba, Malik, and Marik distracted the remaining men, they scurried past the gunfire and exited through the door that led to the top floor. This had to end. Here and now.

Jumping up several flights of stairs, the two tri-colored hair assassins arrived at the top floor just in time to see Pegasus place a golden puzzle on a large desk in the center of the room.

"Stop where you are!" Yami threatened pointing a gun towards Pegasus's head.

The older man only smiled. "I was wondering when you two would get here. Here to see the show?"

Yami cocked the gun back and was about to pull the trigger when he heard a click come from behind him. He looked out of the corner of his eye to see Mai standing behind Yugi with a pistol to the back of his head.

"…Yugi," Yami whispered, looking from Mai back to his little one's frightened eyes.

"As you can see, Yami, if you pull that trigger than Mai pulls hers," Pegasus informed and Yami immediately let his finger slide from the trigger but didn't put his gun down knowing that they would both be defenseless after that.

Yugi looked away in disgust as Pegasus dug his fingers at the corners of the golden eye in his socket and pulled it out revealing a hollow hole. The one-eyed man proceeded to place the eye on the table.

Yami counted to realize that all seven items were now on the desk. He gasped when they began to glow. "This is it, Yami-boy!" Pegasus said sinisterly. "The beginning of the end!"

"NO!" Yami shouted before making a jump to his left. Everything else was a complete blur.

There was a dim glow radiating off the group of seven items followed by a blinding light. Then a struggle. And then things became opaque and dark. But through the mind-numbing pain and the screams, Yami felt someone grab his hand. The skin was so soft. And a voice, so beautiful yet etched with worry and fear, that begged him not to close his eyes. Not to fall asleep.

There was only one person who could have so much love and devotion for him…

'_Yugi.'_

…TBC…

Yuri: SORRY! BUT! Good news is that the last chapter is next. EVEN better news is that I'll update in a few days so you guys will see the conclusion VERY soon. Maybe I'll do an epilogue. I haven't decided. We'll talk more about it next time! REVIEW! PLEASE! Love you all!


	12. Just Stop Time

Yuri: Yay! Last chapter! I'm both so relieved yet so happy! I'm really going to miss all of your lovely reviews! I hope that I have not failed you as an authoress! Well, here it is...the thrilling conclusion...well, its not all that thrilling but it is cute! Anyways, without further delay, here it is.

...Just Stop Time...

The sky, a luminous purple and pink, shined with all it's passion on the beautiful sand below and reflected on the ocean's surface. Even though it was near sunset, the air was crisp and warm just like a summer afternoon. From his spot on the beach chair, the tri-colored youth could see the extraordinary scene before him with ease. Not to mention, the entire place was empty. He guessed that that was what happened when you bought a condo on the shore of Aruba.

A content sigh escaped his parted lips. He felt his eyes begin to get heavy when a rich and familiar voice flowed in the breeze and blew passed his ear, tickling the skin on his cheek.

"Yugi?"

The said boy turned in his chair to smile at the other. "Yes Yami?"

The crimson eyes that he loved so much lit up. "Everyone's waiting in the dining area downstairs. You coming, love?"

Yugi nodded. "In a few minutes."

Amethyst eyes turned back to watch the last minutes of the sunset and squeaked in surprise when strong arms wrapped around his waist and lifted him off the seat. The next thing he knew, he was sitting on Yami's lap. Flashing the other a bright smile, Yugi nuzzled his head under Yami's chin and continued to stare at the breathtaking scene.

He almost purred at the way Yami was stroking his back lovingly.

"Are you thinking about it?" Yami inquired softly.

Yugi nodded mutely. "I can't help it, Yami. I was so scared. I thought…" Yugi bit back the tears that were threatening to fall at the memory. "I thought I was going to lose you."

Yami reached out and placed a finger under Yugi's chin, tilting the other's head so that their eyes locked. "Yugi, I told you I was never going to leave you."

"But you could have…" Yugi paused, knowing that he couldn't continue without crying.

"But I didn't," Yami replied softly.

Yugi sighed but instead of saying anything, he slowly unbuttoned Yami's shirt, stopping when he saw the small scar over his heart. Leaning his head back on the other's shoulder, Yugi began to trace the scar in a slow motion.

That's when all the memories came back; when Mai had a gun to Yugi's head and Yami had so foolishly jumped in the middle of Yugi and the gun, shooting at the blond woman before being shot himself, sending them both to the ground. And how, Yugi had immediately grabbed the gun and turned to shoot Pegasus dead. Then how Yugi sat there on the ground, tears pouring down his face as he begged Yami to stay with him…to not leave him alone again. That's the scene that Jou and Kaiba stumbled upon when they came bursting into the room.

And then there was the hospital. The hours of surgery. The uncertainty if Yami was going to make it or not. The waiting. The recovery and the countless hours that Yugi had stood at Yami's bedside waiting to see those beautiful crimson eyes only to breakdown in tears when it seemed like all hope was lost.

And then, at last, the moment Yami had awakened, somewhat groggily. The way that Yugi had collapsed at the other's bedside and cried into Yami's chest. And the gentle way that Yami had comforted him and told him how much he loved the amethyst-eyed youth. And now, only about a week after that, they were sitting on the shore of Aruba, in each other's arms.

"Yugi…" Yami called out to his dazed love and watched as recognition seeped back into the other's features once again. "I don't want you to think of that anymore. This," Yami said gesturing out to the gorgeous ocean and untouchable sky, "is our new lives. There is no need to think of the past anymore."

Yugi looked down in deep thought for a moment and when he raised his eyes back up to meet his love's, a heart-stopping smile graced his lips. Yami's eyes softened at the priceless expression and he bent down to capture Yugi's lips in a soft yet loving kiss.

"They're waiting for us," Yugi whispered quietly when he broke apart.

Yami nodded and, gently pushing Yugi onto his feet, stood up as well. Yami took Yugi's hand in his as they made their way to the main foyer where they were greeted by several staff members, including the receptionist. Yugi had to agree that it was more like a private, small, expensive hotel then a condo but, nevertheless, he and his friends had bought out the west wing of the luxurious place while the other half was still rented out by rich people looking for a sweet getaway.

Even with the funds that all eight of them hadn't been enough to afford the four permanent rooms that they had bought. However, after careful consideration, the four ex- operatives had decided to melt the millennium items and sell the gold to different buyers. This way, not only were they pretty much guaranteed that they never would have to work a day in their lives, but they had eliminated the possibility of anyone else attempting the same thing that Mai and Pegasus had.

True, they never found out if the legends were true and if the items did grant power. However, after all of the legends and rumors that had been proven to the eight boys during the extent of their assassin lives, they really weren't keen on finding out.

Walking past the lounge, they finally stopped when they spotted everyone inside the mini-ice cream bar.

"Well, look who's here," Bakura began, spotting the duo. "It's the annoying brat…and Yugi."

Yami glared. "Watch it, Bakura."

"Before you two bite each other's heads off, let's get a table," Marik interrupted what was sure to be a fight.

Everyone agreed and settled at one long table. At one side were Yami, Yugi, Jou, and Kaiba in that order, respectably. Kaiba, who had his arm in a sling to prevent use of his shoulder, watched the other's take their seats on the opposite side. Bakura was helping Ryou, who still had trouble walking from the bullet wound that punctured the muscle in his leg and then hit the bone causing the bullet to fragment into tiny pieces. It took the doctors hours to finally get out all of the metal fragments.

The moment Bakura took his seat beside Ryou, a waiter appeared though dressed in casual attire with a grin on his face. "What can I get you guys?" he asked.

"We'll have four sundaes, three banana splits, and a frozen yogurt," Yami replied almost immediately.

The young man nodded. "And whose bill should I put this on?"

Yami pointed towards Bakura and smirked. "Mr. Akefia," the tri-colored haired youth responded, using the other's assumed name. It had taken almost two days to do it but damnit if Kaiba didn't change everyone's identity since they would be on the top of both the HIB's and YIB's hit list.

The waiter walked away before Bakura could protest so instead, the white-haired teen turned on Yami. "I never agreed to buy the damn ice cream?!"

"We all voted," Yami grinned and several snickers went around the table.

Bakura fell back in his seat and crossed his arms while Ryou tried to suppress a giggle. Once their ice cream was brought out, everyone gave in to their cravings and soon the table was filled with laughter, light conversation, and the occasional argument from Kaiba and Jou who were so obviously in love that it was almost sickening. Nothing about the past was ever mentioned. To everyone, it was like a dream. Or, in better words, a nightmare that everyone wanted to forget.

Yugi, not noticing the tap of ice cream that had somehow wound up on the tip of his nose, looked at the bright smiles on everyone's faces, only partly listening to the current conversation over who's ice cream tasted better. The beauty of his new home, the happiness of his life-long friends, and the beginning of his newfound love made him sigh softly.

"I wish it could be like this forever," Yugi said aloud to himself unaware Yami heard him.

Yami just turned to his counterpart and smiled. "It will be, Yugi," he whispered and bent down to kiss the ice cream off of Yugi's nose. "It will be."

…END…

Yuri: I don't know if I like the ending. Maybe an epilogue in the near future? Even though this is kind of an epilogue in a way. I don't know, it's up to you guys. Just let me know. Hope to see you guys in my other stories! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!


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